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The 
Territorial Growth 

of the 

United States 



BY 

WILLIAM A. MOWRY, A.M., Ph.D. 

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC- 
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, AND OTHER HISTORICAL SOCIETIES ; 
AND AUTHOR OF SEVERAL BOOKS ON AMERICAN 
HISTORY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT 




SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 



THf \.l?RAffY OF 
CONGRERS, 

Two Copitfi RecKivsD 

m^. -29 1902 

CoPVftlOHT ENTRY 

CUASS O^ XXa No. 
COPY B. 






Copyright, 1902, 
By silver, BURDETT AND COMPANY 



PREFACE 

IT is now many years since the substance of the following 
pages was first written. The manuscript was laid aside 
and the author began a more thorough study of the subject. 
That study has been continued to the present time, and the 
author has availed himself of all the authorities within his 
reach. During the last two years he has been largely en- 
gaged in rewriting and preparing the matter for the press. 
From the first, the history here embodied has appeared to 
him to be of great value to the American citizen, and to 
deserve a wider knowledge and more careful attention from 
all our people. The facts here presented in consecutive 
order have not heretofore been so fully given. It was, 
therefore, necessary to go back to original sources of infor- 
mation and to cull from many works of diverse character. 

Some of the chapters have a brief treatment because 
others seem to demand fuller and more minute considera- 
tion. The history of the Louisiana Purchase and the 
acquisition of the Oregon country are considered more at 
length because of the exceptional value of that history and 
because correct information upon these subjects has not 
been generally obtainable. 

It is difficult to appreciate fully the importance of the 
service done to this country by Dr. Franklin, John Jay, 
and John Adams, in the delicate task of negotiating the 
treaty of peace with Great Britain; and by Robert R. 
Livingston and James Monroe in accomplishing the pur- 
chase of the Louisiana province from the first Napoleon. 



iv PREFACE 

The special favor of Divine Providence toward this 
country appears again and again in the course of our his- 
tory, particularly in the results of the old French and 
Indian War, the purchase of Louisiana, the acquisition of 
New Mexico and California, and the saving of Oregon from 
the grasp of England. 

The map, showing our several territorial accessions, 
which forms the frontispiece to this book, was in the main 
copied from a cloth map twelve by seven and a half feet in 
size, which was made before Mr. Stocking's map appeared in 
the volume on Population, in the census report of 1870. 

The author is indebted to Theodore Lyman's United 
States Diplomacy, in two volumes, published in Boston in 
1828; to Marbois's History of Louisiana, Philadelphia, 
1830; to Greenhow's History of Oregon and California, 
Little & Brown, 1844; and to Winsor's Narrative and 
Critical History of America, 8 volumes, Houghton, Mifflin 
& Company, Boston, 1889. Special mention ought to be 
made of the valuable article on the Peace Negotiations of 
iy82-i'j8s by the Hon. John Jay, published in the seventh 
volume of Winsor's history, above mentioned, pp. 89-165. 
Thanks are due to Hon. William R. Merriam, Superintend- 
ent of the Twelfth United States Census, for his courtesy 
in furnishing advance bulletins of the census, showing 
population, etc. 

William A. Mowry. 

Hyde Park, Massachusetts, 
May I, 1902, 





CONTENTS 










CHAPTER 
I- 


-The Thirteen Original States 




PAGE 

I 


II.- 


-The Northwest Territory 






28 


III.- 


-Louisiana .... 








41 


IV.- 


-Florida 








73 


V.- 


-Texas and New Mexico 








. 85 


VI.- 


-California .... 








98 


VII.- 


-Oregon 








109 


VIII.- 


-Alaska 








164 


IX.- 


-Hawaii .... 








177 


X.- 


-Porto Rico . 








199 


XI.- 


-The Philippine Islands 








. 208 


XII.- 


—Conclusion . 








. 220 



MAPS 

The Territorial Growth of the United States y 

Frontispiece ^ 

FACING PAGE 

The Territory of the Present United States 

DURING the French-Indian Wars . . 8 ^ 

Proposed Boundaries of the United States, 
Canada, and the Spanish Possessions in 
1782 16 l^ 

The Territory of the Present United States 

after September 3, 1783 .... 24 ^Z 

Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States 

IN 1783 321/ 

Original Public Domain, 1787 .... 401-/ 

The United States in 1800 .... 48 l^-" 

Western Portion of the Present United 

States . 88 ^^ 

The Oregon Country 1 1 2 1/ 

Alaska 168^ 

The Hawaiian Islands ..... 184 "^ 

The West Indies 200 ^ 

The Philippine Islands 208 v 



vu 



THE TERRITORIAL GROWTH 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 



CHAPTER I 

THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

THE early history of most nations is involved in 
obscurity. The mythological romance that 
hangs about the earlier settlements of Greece and 
Rome hides in profound darkness the origin of those 
great civilizations. The dawn of English history is 
surrounded by uncertain traditions that cloud sev- 
eral centuries with the fog and mist of poetic ballads 
and stories of giants and demigods. But the be- 
ginnings of American history are as bright and balmy 
as a spring morning, with no cloud to obscure the 
glory of the rising sun. The facts of the emigration 
from the old countries and of the several settlements 
are well known and as well authenticated as any chap- 
ter in the history of the world. 



2 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

The enthusiasm, energy, and courage that character- 
ized the earlier discoverers and explorers, the religious 
earnestness and devotion to principle and to conscience 
that marked the New England settlers, the heroic self- 
denial of the western pioneers, the changing fortunes 
and the final success that attended the English settle- 
ments between the Spanish Floridas and the French 
Acadia, have been recorded by able historians, though 
scarcely appreciated by the mass of their readers. The 
favoring conditions which conduced to the final inde- 
pendence and expansion of these colonies were numer- 
ous and marvelous. The overruling hand of a Divine 
Providence shaping the end shows in many conspicu- 
ous examples. 

Among the causes of the present greatness and pros- 
perity of the United States must be placed several acts 
of European governments. 

That was an auspicious moment for America when, 
at the close of the Seven Years' War, England, "furi- 
ously imperious," and "drunk with success,"* dic- 
tated severe and humiliating terms to France, robbing 
her of all her North American colonies and dividing 
the great valley of the interior between herself and 
Spain. It was a sagacious and experienced statesman 
who, in commenting on the Treaty of Paris in 1763, 
could so foresee the progress of inevitable events as to 

' Due de Choiseul. See Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 
iv., p. 451. 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 3 

say: "The consequences of the entire cession of 
Canada are obvious. I am persuaded that England 
will ere long repent of having removed the only check 
that could keep her colonies in awe. They stand no 
longer in need of her protection ; she will call on them 
to contribute toward supporting the burdens they 
have helped to bring on her, and they will answer by 
striking off all dependence." ' 

Equally significant was the utterance of Napoleon 
at the conclusion of the treaty ceding the great prov- 
ince of Louisiana to the United States: "This acces- 
sion of territory strengthens forever the power of the 
United States; and I have just given to England a 
maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her 
pride."* 

Hardly less important to the future of our country 
was the treaty with Spain in 18 19, which not only 
ceded the two Floridas to the United States, but 
quitclaimed to us all Spain's right and title to the Pa- 
cific coast north of the forty-second degree of latitude. 

The independence of the thirteen colonies once se- 
cured, their growth was inevitably rapid. The popu- 
lation at the taking of the first census, in 1790, was 
less than 4,ooo,ocx); one hundred years from that time 



' Count de Vergennes, at that time the French Ambassador at Con- 
stantinople. See Bancroft, vol. ii., p. 564. 

* M. de Marbois, History of Louisiana, p. 312. Lea & Carey, 
Philadelphia, 1830. 



4 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

the official census aggregated over 52,000,000. The 
population by the census of 1900 is more than 
76,000,000, besides an estimated 10,000,000 more in 
our island possessions. This unprecedented increase in 
the number of inhabitants is indicative of similar pro- 
gress in other directions, and is largely dependent on 
the rapid increase of territory. 

In the earliest discoveries and explorations Spain 
took the lead, but she made no successful efforts to 
plant colonies within the limits of the original territory 
of the United States. About the beginning of the 
seventeenth century England laid claim to the entire 
coast from Cape Fear in North Carolina to Halifax, — a 
breadth of about twelve degrees of latitude. In 1606 
King James granted two important patents: one to 
the London Company, for all the territory between the 
34th and 41st degrees of latitude, and the other to the 
Plymouth Company, for the section between the 38th 
and 45th degrees, with the provision that neither Com- 
pany should make a settlement within a hundred miles 
of any colony of the other. 

Under the direction of the London Company the 
first permanent settlement within the limits of our 
original territory— the first permanent English settle- 
ment in America — was made at Jamestown in 1607. 
Its name and the name of the river were given in honor 
of the king who granted the charter. The limits of the 
grant under this charter were from Cape Fear on the 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 5 

south to the southern line of Maryland on the 
north. 

The language of the charter is important. It states 
the request made by Sir Thomas Gates and others, and 
grants their prayer as follows : 

To make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony 
of sundry of our People into that part of America commonly 
called Virginia . . . situate, lying and being all along 
the Sea Coasts, between four and thirty Degrees oi Northerly 
Latitude from the Equinoctial Line, and five and forty De- 
grees of the same Latitude. . . . And to that End, and 
for the more speedy Accomplishment of their said intended 
Plantation and Habitation there, are desirous to divide 
themselves into two several Colonies and Companies; the 
one consisting of certain Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, 
and other Adventurers, of our City of Lofidonj . . . and 
the other consisting of sundry Knights, Gentlemen, and 
Merchants and other Adventurers, of our Cities of Bristol 
and Exeter, and of our Town of Plimouth, and of other 
places, . . . [the former to] begin their Plantation and 
Habitation in some fit and convenient Place, between four 
and thirty and one and forty Degrees of the said Latitude, 

[and the other] . . . between eight and thirty 
Degrees and five and forty Degrees of the said Latitude; 

We, greatly commending, and graciously accept- 
ing of, their desires; . . . DO, by these our Letters 
Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble 
and well-intended desires; and do . . . GRANT and 
agree, that the said Sir Thomas Gates and others, shall be 
called \}ci& first Colony ; And they shall and may begin their 
said first Plantation and Habitation, at any Place . 
between the said four and thirty and one and forty Degrees 



6 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

of the said Latitude; and that they shall have all the Lands 
. . , from the said first Seat of their Plantation and Habi- 
tation by the Space of fifty Miles of English Statute Meas- 
ure, all along the said Coast of Virginia . . . toward the 
fVest and Southwest as the Coast lyeth, , . , And also all 
the Lands . . . from the said Place of their first Planta- 
tion and Habitation for the space of fifty like English Miles, 
all alongst the said Coasts of Virginia and America, toward 
the East and Northeast or towards the North, as the Coast 
lyeth . . . And also all the Lands . . . from the 
same fifty Miles every way on the Sea Coast, directly into 
the main Land by the Space of one hundred like English 
Miles; And shall and may inhabit and remain there. . . . 
And that no others of our Subjects shall be permitted, or 
suffered, to plant or inhabit behind, or on the Backside of 
them, towards the main Land, without the Express License 
or Consent of the Council of that Colony, thereunto in 
Writing first had and obtained. 

And we do likewise, , . . Grant and agree, that 
the said Thomas Hanham and Ralegh Gilbert, William 
Parker, and George Popham, and all others of the Town 
of Plifnouth ... or elsewhere, which are, or shall be, 
joined to them of that Colony, shall be called the second 
Colony J And that they shall and may begin their said 
Plantation and Seat of their first Abode and Habitation 
. between eight and thirty Degrees of the said 
Latitude, and five and forty Degrees of the same Latitude; 
and that they shall have all the coasts ... by the 
Space of fifty like English Miles, as is aforesaid, all alongst 
the Coasts . . . towards the West and Southwest or 
towards the South, as the Coast lyeth, . . , And also 
all the Lands ... for the Space of fifty like Miles 
. . towards the East or Northeast or toward the North, 
as the Coast lyeth, . . . from the same fifty Miles 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 7 

every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the main Land, 
by the Space of one hundred like English Miles, etc. 

The Plantation and Habitation of such of the said 
Colonies, as shall last plant themselves, as aforesaid, shall 
not be made within one hundred English Miles of the other 
of them that first began to make their Plantation, as afore- 
said. . . . Each of the said Colonies shall have a 
Council . . . which shall consist of thirty Persons 
, . . and that also there shall be a Council, established 
here in England ... of thirteen Persons, . . . 
appointed by Us. . . . The Councils of the said 
Several Colonies shall and lawfully may dig, mine and 
search for all Manner of Mines of Gold, Silver, and Cop- 
per . . . YIELDING to Us, our Hcirs and Successors the 
fifth Part only of all the same Gold and Silver, and the 
fifteenth Part of all the same Copper so to be gotten or had, 
or as aforesaid, without any Manner of Profit or Account, 
to be given or yielded to Us, our Heirs or Successors, for 
or in Respect of the same. 

Full authority to defend themselves, to trade, and 
to coin money was given both colonies, and the rights 
of English subjects were guaranteed to them and their 
posterity. 

This patent was signed April 10, 1606, "in the 
fourth year of our Reign of England, France and Ire- 
land, and of Scotland the nine and thirtieth." ' 

The second charter was given in 1609, and is dated 
"the 23d Day of May in the seventh Year of our 
Reign of England," etc.'' It rehearses the provisions 
of the former patent, and adds : 

* Poore's Charters and Constitutions, part ii,, p. 1893. "^ Ibid., p. ig02. 



8 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

We would be pleased to grant them a further Enlarge- 
ment and Explanation of the said Grant, Privileges and 
Liberties, and that such Counsellors, and other Officers 
may be appointed amongst them, to manage and direct 
their Affairs, as are willing and ready to adventure with 
them, as also whose Dwellings are not so far remote from 
the City of London, but they may, at convenient Times, be 
ready at Hand, to give their Advice and Assistance, upon 
all Occasions requisite 

And we do also . . . give, grant and confirm, unto 
the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors 
all those Lands . . . from the Point of Land 
called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the Sea Coast to 
the Northward, two hundred miles, and ... to the 
Southward, two hundred Miles, and all that Space and 
Circuit of Land, lying from the Sea Coast of the Precinct 
aforesaid, up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea, 
West and Northwest. 

The council resident in the colony was abolished and 
a council with a treasurer was appointed by the king. 
Lord Delaware was made governor for life, and the en- 
tire authority was vested in the governor, treasurer, 
and officers of the council, who were also empowered 
to make all laws for the colony. Arrangements for 
trade were made, and for customs or taxes on goods. 

The third charter was given in i6i 2 and is dated March 
I2th (this was 1611, old style). It enlarges the rights 
and powers of the Company, but does not change the 
boundaries of the colonies. Here, then, we have the 
beginning of the English colonies in North America. 




S}-iniah claima. 1 ! 

Fraxck claitns \ 1 

.Englis^i jpossessio7is, r | 



Copyright^ 1892^ in Mac Counts Histo?'ical Geograph 




the United States. 




iSjiniah clav 
JF'rench claim 
Mnglia^i poiseanoti. 



Copyright, 1892^ in MacCouv's Historical Geography of the United States. 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 9 

The Dutch claim in North America came from a 
voyage made in May, 1609, by Captain Henry Hudson 
in the service of the Dutch East India Company. He 
sailed to the head of navigation on the great river 
which now bears his name. The validity of this 
claim was never allowed or acknowledged by the Eng- 
lish. Although New Amsterdam was settled by the 
Dutch and held by them till 1664, in that year it was 
surrendered to the English and in September the 
British flag was raised at New Amsterdam, which then 
became New York, and the Dutch power in what is 
now the United States was at an end. 

It is not necessary to our purpose to follow the 
planting of the several English colonies. Virginia 
was settled, as we have seen, in 1607 ; Plymouth in 1620 
(united with the "Bay Colony " in 1692); New Hamp- 
shire in 1623; New York in 1623; Massachusetts Bay 
in 1628; Maryland in 1634; Connecticut in 1635; 
Rhode Island in 1636; Delaware in 1638; Pennsyl- 
vania in 1643 ; the CaroHnas in 1663 ; New Jersey 
in 1664; and Georgia in 1733. Four of these colonies 
— New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and 
Connecticut — were called Eastern or New England 
Colonies ; four — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
and Delaware — were called Middle Colonies ; and five 
— Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and 
Georgia — were called Southern Colonies. 

Prior to the war of the Revolution Great Britain had 



lo THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

undisputed control of the coast from the St. Mary's 
River, which was the northern boundary of Florida, 
to Nova Scotia ; and the government of this great ter- 
ritory was comprised in thirteen colonies, all subject 
to the British crown, and each independent of the 
others. The different systems of government that 
prevailed in the several colonies have generally been 
grouped under the three heads of provincial, proprie- 
tary, and charter governments. When the Revolution 
came, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut 
had charters; three other colonies — Maryland, Penn- 
sylvania, and Delaware — were proprietary. The re- 
maining seven were provincial or royal colonies. 

The boundaries of some of these colonies were vague 
and indefinite. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and 
New York all laid claim to the territory of Vermont. 
Connecticut, as late as 1782, claimed a part of Pennsyl- 
vania, and at one time claimed Rhode Island. At the 
time of the Revolutionary War six colonies had boun- 
daries defined with reasonable exactness ; these were 
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, and Maryland. The others claimed 
western lands, extending generally to the Mississippi 
River. Some of the grants given by the king were 
clearly designed to extend to the Pacific Ocean. For 
example, the charter of Massachusetts says "through- 
out all the main lands from sea to sea " ; that of Con- 
necticut, "to the south sea on the west"; that of 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES ii 

Carolina, "to the west as far as the south seas " ; and 
the second charter of Virginia, given in 1609, reads, 
"up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea West 
and Northwest. " 

The middle of the eighteenth century was a most 
important epoch in the history of this country. In the 
years from 1754 to 1763 England and France were at 
war. The contest began in America, and two years 
later involved the great powers of Europe. 

At this time the English colonies occupied the coast 
between Florida and Nova Scotia, but nowhere ex- 
tended inland beyond the AUeghanies. The entire 
valley of the St. Lawrence and the great basin of the 
Mississippi were first explored and settled by the 
French and hence belonged to France. Florida and 
Mexico had been settled by Spaniards and were, there- 
fore, held by Spain. So read the map of North 
America at the middle of the eighteenth century; but 
important changes were about to take place. 

The important province of Louisiana, so named in 
honor of the great Louis XIV., was transferred by 
France to Spain. It was a country of immense ex- 
tent, reaching from the Gulf of Mexico to the present 
British possessions in latitude 49°, and from the Mis- 
sissippi, "with western boundaries undefined." This 
cession to Spain was offset by that government passing 
Florida over to England, who retained it until, by the 
Treaty of 1783, she re-ceded it to Spain. In the Treaty 



12 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

of 1763 England sanctioned the cession of Louisi- 
ana to Spain, and, further, compelled France to cede 
to her all that part of New France lying east of the 
Mississippi, and all of Canada and Nova Scotia. Thus 
by this general change of titles, France was swept 
entirely from North America, Spain was limited to 
the territory beyond the Mississippi River, and Eng- 
land held everything between the Atlantic and the 
Mississippi. 

"There is no hope of repose for our thirteen colo- 
nies as long as the French are masters of Canada," 
said Benjamin Franklin on his arrival in London in 
1754. "He was already laboring, without knowing it, 
at that great work of America, independence, which 
was to be his glory and that of his generation. The 
common efforts and the common interests of the 
thirteen American colonies in the war against France 
were the first step toward that great coalition which 
founded the United States of America." ' 

So long as rival powers held the country on the 
south, west, and north of these English colonies, so 
long they needed the protection of the mother coun- 
try. The final independence of the colonies was ap- 
parently assured when France, who had heretofore 
held all the country north and west of them, was 
driven from the continent. This peace placed in the 
hands of England the entire country between the 

' Guizot's History of France, vol. vi., p. 199, Estes & Lauriat edition. 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 13 

Alleghanies and the Mississippi, only that it might fall 
into the hands of the United States of America, 
thirteen years later, in 1776, when the infant republic 
took its place among the nations of the earth. 

Guizot,' the great historian of his native country, 
France, says of the state of affairs in 1763 : 

The struggle was over. King Louis XV. had lost his 
American colonies, the nascent empire of India, and the 
settlements of Senegal, He recovered Guadaloupe and 
Martinique, but lately conquered by the English, Chander- 
nagore, and the ruins of Pondicherry. The humiliation 
was deep and the losses were irreparable. All the fruits 
of the courage, of the ability, and of the passionate devo- 
tion of the French in India and in America were falling 
into the hands of England. Her government had com- 
mitted many faults; but the strong action of a free people 
had always managed to repair them. The day was coming 
when the haughty passions of the mother country and the 
proud independence of her colonies would engage in that 
supreme struggle which has given to the world the United 
States of America. 

This war was more important than at first sight 
would appear. It began over a question of supremacy 
in America and extended until Europe and Asia were 
largely involved. It was not only a contest between 
England and France, but a war of races, languages, 
and religions. It was a war for the supremacy of 
the Anglo-Saxon over the Latin race. It was a con- 
test between the laws, manners, and customs of Great 

' History of Franc e^ vol. vi., p. 214. 



^4 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

Britain, with rights guaranteed to the people by Magna 
Carta, and those of more despotic monarchies of 
southern Europe ; between the English language and 
the French ; between the Roman Catholic Church and 
"freedom in religious concernments"; and finally, as 
it now appears, it was the beginning of a contest for 
the ultimate supremacy in the world. On the Plains 
of Abraham were decided all these questions. The 
fall of Quebec, and the consequent conquest of Canada 
by the British was, therefore, the supreme moment in 
the history of North America. 

The English colonies now had nothing to fear from 
the proximity of other European powers, and at once 
began, perhaps unconsciously, to prepare for indepen- 
dence. They no longer needed the aid of the mother 
country, — a fact which they quickly learned, — and be- 
gan to shape their course accordingly. The succession 
of events was rapid. Franklin's plan of union had 
failed in 1754, but the common cause which the colo- 
nies made during the war bound them together, and 
prepared them to act in concert when the Revolution- 
ary War began. This war finally resulted in indepen- 
dence and a new North American nation. 

In 1779 Congress appointed John Adams of Massa- 
chusetts minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty 
of peace with Great Britain„ Mr. Adams was soon 
after appointed minister to The Hague. He arrived 
in Paris early in 1780, and began correspondence and 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 15 

intercourse with Count de Vergennes, the French 
minister. It was not long before a mutual dislike and 
distrust grew up between Mr. Adams and Vergennes. 
Adams was convinced that it was the intention of the 
French government to sacrifice the interests of the 
Americans in favor of Spain, especially in the matter 
of the Newfoundland fisheries and the territory be- 
tween the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. Ameri- 
cans must always be grateful to Mr. Adams for the 
clear-sightedness with which he thus read the designs 
of Vergennes and estimated at its true worth the 
purely selfish intervention of France in behalf of the 
United States. It soon became evident to the French 
government that the bold and manly position taken 
by Mr. Adams was likely to thwart the intention of 
France to play into the hands of Spain. Both the 
king of France and the king of Spain were Bourbons, 
and Adams was too much of an upright and downright 
Englishman to suit the plans of these Bourbon 
governments. 

It may, therefore, be considered natural that French 
influence should be exerted upon Congress to place 
the negotiation of this treaty in other hands. Of 
course, France could not dictate who should be com- 
missioned for such duties. She adroitly suggested to 
members of Congress, through persons friendly to 
France, that inasmuch as America had so many able 
statesmen, it might be well not to leave to one man 



i6 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

so important a duty as the negotiating of this 
treaty. 

These counsels prevailed, and in June, 1781, Congress 
passed an act which gave to "John Adams, Benjamin 
Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens and Thomas Jeffer- 
son, or the majority of them, or as many of them as may 
assemble, or in the case of the death, absence, indispo- 
sition or other impediment of the others, to any one 
of them, full power and authority, general and special 
commission, to repair to such place as may be fixed 
upon for opening the negotiations for peace, and there 
for , us, and in our name, to confer, treat, agree and 
conclude with the ambassadors, commissioners, and 
plenipotentiaries of the princes and states, whom it 
may concern, vested with equal powers, relating to the 
establishment of peace, and whatsoever shall be agreed 
and concluded for us, and in our name, to sign, and 
thereupon make a treaty or treaties, and to transact 
everything that may be necessary for completing, 
securing and strengthening the great work of pacifica- 
tion, in as ample form, and with the same effect, as if 
we were personally present and acted therein." 

This act placed John Adams at the head of the com- 
missioners, and it was considered that he represented 
New England; John Jay the Empire State of New 
York; Benjamin Franklin the Keystone State, Penn- 
sylvania; Thomas Jefferson the great commonwealth 
of Virginia ; and Henry Laurens the Southern states. 




BOUNDARIES 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND 
THE SPANISH POSSESSIONS. 

According to the proposal of the Court 
OF France, in 1782. 

United States 

English 

Spanish 

Uncolored, Indian Territory, under Span- 
ish or American protection, according as it 
lies East or West of the green intersect- 
ing line. 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 17 

Mr. Jefferson did not join the commission, but all the 
other commissioners were present during some part of 
the discussions. 

The task committed to these gentlemen was an ex- 
tremely delicate one. France had espoused our cause, 
loaned us money, and furnished us with troops and a 
naval fleet. Her conduct, however, may be open to 
the suspicion that she was influenced by ill-will toward 
England as well as by love for the United States. The 
instructions from Congress to our commissioners were 
that they should "take no steps without France." It 
was plainly thought best to treat France with the ut- 
most consideration, to confer with her on all points of 
the treaty; and, indeed, at first this was the view of 
John Adams himself. "In 'his determination to take 
no steps of consequence without consulting the min- 
isters of his most Christian Majesty' he asked 'the 
opinion and advice' of Vergennes. "' But when 
these commissioners settled down to the business 
they discovered the double part that France was 
playing. 

The three great questions in this treaty were : 

1. The Newfoundland fisheries. 

2. Remuneration to the loyalists. 

3. The western boundaries. 

The boldness, earnestness, and patriotism of John 
Adams finally secured for us the first point. The 
* Letter to Vergennes, see United States Diplomacy, vol. i, p. loi. 



i8 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

agreement is stated in the third article of the treaty, 
which reads as follows : 

It is agreed that the people of the United States shall 
continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every 
kind, on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of 
Newfoundland; also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at 
all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants of both 
countries used, at any time heretofore, to fish; and also, 
that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty 
to take fish of every kind, on such part of the coast of 
Newfoundland as British fishermen may use; (but not to 
dry or cure the same on that island;) and also on the 
coasts, bays and creeks, of all other of his Britannic 
Majesty's dominions in America: and that the American 
fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of 
the unsettled bays, harbors and creeks of Magdalen 
Islands and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain 
unsettled; but so soon as the same, or either of them, shall 
be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to 
dry or cure fish at such settlement without a previous 
agreement for that purpose, with the inhabitants, pro- 
prietors, or possessors of the ground. 

The second point was happily adjusted by referring 
the whole matter to the several states, inasmuch as 
Congress had not power to determine the question. 
On this point the treaty reads as follows: 

Art. 4. It is agreed, that creditors on either side shall 
meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full 
value, in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore 
contracted. 

Art. 5. It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 19 

recommend it to the legislatures of the respective states, to 
provide for the restitution of all estates, rights and prop- 
erties, which have been confiscated, belonging to real 
British subjects, and also the estates, rights and properties, 
of persons resident in districts in possession of his Ma- 
jesty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the said 
United States. 

Now comes the matter of western boundaries. This 
was the most important question before the commis- 
sioners. "There is now in the Department of Sta^^ at 
Washington a copy of Michel's map of North America 
on which the Count d'Aranda traced in the presence 
of Mr. Jay at Paris in the summer of 1782, where 
the Count was then Spanish minister, the boundaries 
of Spain, beginning on the north at the confluence of 
the Ohio and the Renhawah and running round the 
western shores of Erie, Huron, and Michigan, to Lake 
Superior. This boundary included all the Western 
States. As early as January, 1780, the French minis- 
ter communicated to Congress by order of his court 
the following statement of claims on the part of Spain : 
The exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, the pos- 
session of the Floridas and the lands on the left bank 
of the Mississippi. It is very clear that Spain intended 
to obtain from the United States an acknowledge- 
ment of these pretensions before she recognized the 
independence." ' 

' Theodore Lyman's The Diplo?nacy of the United States, vol. i., pp. 
121-2. 



20 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

Another account states that d'Aranda, in the pres- 
ence of Jay, indicated what he thought should be the 
boundaries of the new republic. On this map he 
traced the proposed line, beginning at what is now the 
northwest corner of Pennsylvania, running south to 
Pittsburg, down the Ohio to the point of boundary 
between West Virginia and Kentucky, then southerly, 
in general along the ridge of the mountains, to the 
northern line of Florida. "Or," he said, "if this does 
r.ot satisfy the Americans, then let the line run down 
the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers." Mr. Jay never 
forgot that statement of the Count. 

It is said that one day Oswald, the British commis- 
sioner, proposed to Dr. Franklin that as the Quebec 
bill included the territory north of the Ohio, that 
country should be considered a part of Canada. To 
this Dr. Franklin replied: "No, sir. If you insist 
upon that we go back to Yorktown." The point was 
then given up by the British commissioner, but it was 
not so easy to secure the consent of the French min- 
ister. He was anxious that the territory north of the 
Ohio be given to Spain as a part of her province of 
Louisiana. Jay clearly saw the value of that terri- 
tory to the United States, but how should it be 
secured ? It rightfully belonged to us, because we 
had conquered it through the expedition of George 
Rogers Clark, in 1778. The territory south of the 
Ohio we were entitled to through the bravery and 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 21 

patriotism of John Sevier, James Robertson, and 
Isaac Shelby. 

It was not long before Mr. Jay became convinced 
that the only way for us to secure our rights would 
be to negotiate the treaty with the British commis- 
sioner before France knew it. Although he was under 
instructions to "take no step without France," he 
felt that those instructions were not right. They were 
belittling to our country; they placed us under the 
heel of France. France was planning with Spain to 
our injury, and he determined, if possible, to thwart 
their efforts. He was aware that the instructions Con- 
gress had given to the commissioners said: "You are 
to make the most candid and confidential communica- 
tions upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous 
ally, the King of France ; to undertake nothing in the 
negotiations for peace or truce without their knowl- 
edge and concurrence ; and ultimately to govern your- 
self by their advice and opinion." These instructions 
Jay sincerely regretted. But he also remembered that 
the instructions, which had originally been given to 
Mr. Adams alone, said: "But we think it unsafe, at 
this distance, to tie you up to absolute and peremptory 
directions upon any other subject than the two essen- 
tial articles before mentioned. [These two points were 
the recognition of the absolute independence and sov- 
ereignty of the United States, and an agreement that 
the treaties with France should be left in full force.] 



22 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

You are therefore at liberty to secure the interests of 
the United States in such manner as circumstances 
may direct." 

Jay was now in the prime of life, under forty, while 
Franklin was an old man past seventy-five. Franklin 
was somewhat infirm, and lived at Passy. One day, 
in Jay's room in Paris, they were discussing the ques- 
tion of boundaries. Jay was anxious to have Franklin 
agree to his views, but Franklin, who was exceedingly 
popular with all the French people, could not bring 
himself to distrust the honest friendship of the French 
government. Jay's hints, however, were so broad that 
Franklin finally said, "But, would you break your in- 
structions?" He referred to the direction that they 
should be governed by the advice of France. 

"Yes," replied Jay, who was smoking a pipe, "as I 
break this pipe," — and immediately he threw it into 
the open fire. 

"That will be a pretty serious matter," said Frank- 
lin. "I will think about it." 

The next day they discussed the matter again, and 
soon after Adams came over from The Hague and had 
a long conference with Jay. On all these points he 
sided with Jay and they soon brought Franklin to 
their views. Oswald was ready to sign the treaty at 
once. Out of respect to the alliance between the 
United States and France, this was to be considered a 
preliminary treaty and was not to be made definitive 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 23 

until terms of peace should be agreed upon between 
Great Britain and France. With this reservation the 
treaty between the United States and Great Britain 
was signed and sealed by the commissioners of both 
countries. Our commissioners may well have felt joy- 
ful at its accomplishment. Friends of Franklin gath- 
ered round him, and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld 
kissed him for joy. Franklin said to him: "My 
friend, could I have hoped at such an age to have 
enjoyed such happiness?" 

The day before the signing of the treaty, that is, 
November 29th, Franklin wrote to Vergennes, telling 
him that the provisional articles of the treaty were 
agreed upon, and added: "Tomorrow I hope we shall 
be able to communicate to Your Excellency a copy of 
them." * The next day a copy was sent to Vergennes 
and he at once observed that the treaty had been ex- 
ecuted ; it was signed and sealed. Franklin, a few 
days later, on December 15th, informed Vergennes 
that he proposed to send despatches to Congress the 
next day by the Washington, having obtained a pass- 
port for that vessel from the king of England. The 
French minister the same day wrote a caustic letter to 
Franklin. In it were these words : 

I am at a loss, Sir, to explain your conduct and that of 
your colleagues on this occasion. You have conclud- 
ed your preliminary articles without any communication 

' Sparks's Works of Frajiklin^ vol. ix., p. 435. 



24 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

between us, although the instructions from Congress pre- 
scribe that nothing shall be done without the participation of 
the King. You are about to hold out a certain hope of peace 
to America without even informing yourself on the state of 
the negotiation on our part. You are wise and discreet, 
Sir; you perfectly understand what is due to propriety; 
you have discharged your duties with exactness during 
your life. I pray you to consider how you propose to ful- 
fil those which are due to the King. I shall not extend my 
reflections further. I leave them to your own ideas of 
propriety. ' 

Two days later Franklin replied in a most tactful 
letter, which contains the following: 

Nothing has been agreed in the preliminaries contrary to 
the interests of France, and no peace is to take place be- 
tween us and England until you have concluded yours. 
Your observation is, however, apparently just, that in not 
consulting you before they were signed, we have been 
guilty of neglecting a point of biensdance. But, as this was 
not from want of respect for the King, whom we all love 
and honor, we hope it will be excused, and that the great 
work, which has hitherto been so happily conducted, is so 
nearly brought to perfection, and is so glorious to his reign, 
will not be ruined by a single indiscretion of ours. And 
certainly the whole edifice sinks to the ground immediately, 
if you refuse on that account to give us any further assist- 
ance. . . . It is not possible for any one to be more 
sensible than I am, of what I and every American owe to 
the King, for the many and great benefits and favors he has 
bestowed upon us. All my letters to America are proofs of 

• Sparks's Works of Franklin, vol. ix., pp. 449-50. See also Theo- 
dore Lyman's Diplomacy of the United States, vol. i., p. 120. 




Copyright, 1892, hi MacCoun's Historical Geography 




he United State i. 




4y«~U ^a. I' > 



Cefyrig/it. 1892, in MaeCoum's Historical Gt<^grapky of tht l/rtited Statu 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 25 

this; all tending to make the same impression on the minds 
of my countrymen that I felt in my own. And I believe 
that no prince was ever more beloved and respected by his 
own subjects, than the King is by the people of the United 
States. The English, I just now learn, flatter themselves 
they have already divided us. I hope this little misunder- 
standing will, therefore, be kept a perfect secret, and that 
they will find themselves totally mistaken.' 

That this treaty should have been signed not only 
by the American commissioners, but by the English 
commissioner as well, virithout the knovirledge of the 
French minister, aroused in the mind of Vergennes an 
apprehension that possibly the English and the Ameri- 
cans might combine against France. He at once 
accepted the apology, and without further objection 
acquiesced in the treaty. There was certainly no 
reason why he should not do so, especially in view of 
his own secret understanding with Spain. He im- 
mediately sent a letter to Luzerne, the French minis- 
ter at Washington, in which he expressed the thought 
that the American Congress ought to be informed of 
the very irregular conduct of their commissioners, but 
it was not written in a tone of complaint. It reads in 
part as follows : 

I blame no one, not even Dr. Franklin. He has yielded 
too easily to the bias of his colleagues, who do not pretend 
to recognize the rules of courtesy in regard to us. All their 
attentions have been taken up by the English whom they 

* Sparks's IVorks of Franklin, vol. ix., p. 451. 



26 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

have met in Paris, If we may judge of the future from 
what has passed under our eyes, we shall be poorly paid for 
all that we have done for the United States, and for secur- 
ing for them a national existence.' 

As has already been intimated, the most important 
point in the treaty after the acknowledgment of the 
absolute independence of the United States, was the 
boundary question. After defining the boundary on 
the eastern and northern borders of Maine and through 
the middle of the St. Lawrence River and the middle 
of the lakes, the treaty marks the line thus: "Thence 
through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water 
communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, 
to the said Lake of the Woods ; thence through the 
said lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and 
from thence on a due west course to the river Missis- 
sippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle 
of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the 
northernmost part of the 31st degree of north lati- 
tude." Then the boundary leaves the river on the 
31st degree of latitude, and passes eastward along the 
northern line of what was then known as East and 
West Florida, to the Atlantic. 

At that time the sources of the Mississippi River had 
never been explored and were totally unknown. The 
map which guided the commissioners placed the source 
of that river some distance northwest of the Lake of 

' Sparks's Works of Franklin, vol, ix,, p. 456. 



THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 27 

the Woods, hence the blunder of these commissioners 
in saying that the line should run from the most north- 
western point of that lake "on a due west course to 
the river Mississippi." A subsequent treaty with 
Great Britain changed this to read, "from this most 
northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods due 
south to latitude 49°." 



CHAPTER II 

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

OF the value of the territory secured to the United 
States by the treaty of peace of 1783, we can 
hardly speak too strongly. Suppose for a moment 
that our western boundary had been fixed where Count 
d'Aranda wished it to be, along the line of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains. How different would have been 
the history of this country ! The thirteen colonies east 
of the Alleghany Mountains, including Vermont, oc- 
cupied less than 4CX),ooo square miles. The territory 
north of the Ohio added 265,000 square miles, and the 
territory south of the Ohio made 175,000 square miles 
more. This made the total of the United States terri- 
tory, according to that treaty, about 840,000 square 
miles. The land which these commissioners by their 
stroke of diplomacy succeeded in securing for the 
young republic more than doubled its area. Let us 
try to form some adequate conception of the value of 
this great territory that lies north and northwest of the 
Ohio River. It is to be noticed that one third of the 
present state of Minnesota lies east of the Mississippi 

28 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 29 

and therefore is included in this territory. First we 

will compare it as to area with ten countries of Europe. 

TABLE I 
Area of Territory Northwest of the Ohio 

section. area in sq. miles. 

1. One third Minnesota 26,000 

2. Indiana 34,000 

3. Ohio 40,000 

4. Wisconsin 54,000 

5. Illinois 55,000 

6. Michigan , 56,000 

Total 265,000 

Ten Countries of Europe 
section. area in sq. miles. 

1. Belgium and Netherlands 25,000 

2. Denmark and Switzerland 30,000 

3. Portugal 37,000 

4. Wales and Ireland 39,000 

5. Scotland and Greece 50,000 

6. England 51,000 

Total 232,000 

Let us next observe the increase of population 
within the last one hundred years. 

TABLE II 
Increase of Population in Territory Northwest of the Ohio 

INCREASE per 
YEAR. POPULATION. SQ. MILE. 

iSoo 51,000 1-5 

181O 270,000 2 1-2 

1820 790,000 3 

1830 1,470,000 5 

1840 3,000,000 10 

1850 4,500,000 15 

i860 ■ 7,000,000 26 

1870 9,250,000 34 

1880 11,500,000 43 

1890 14,000,000 52 

1900 18,000,000 68 



30 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 



If the territory northwest of the Ohio had a popu- 
lation of two hundred per square mile, like these coun- 
tries in Europe, it would sustain a people numbering 
over fifty millions. If its population were as dense 
as that of Massachusetts it would approach eighty 
millions. 

The dimensions in territory and the increase in 
population do not cover the whole ground. Let us 
consider for a moment the annual productions of this 
tract secured to us through the diplomacy of Jay 
and Franklin. 

TABLE III 

Productions. 

section. wheat, bu. corn, bu. oats, bu. 

One third Minnesota, . 14,000,000 8,000,000 14,000,000 

Wisconsin 8,000,000 27,000,000 51,000,000 

Michigan 24,000,000 23,000,000 28,000,000 

Ohio 38,000,000 84,000,000 26,000,000 

Indiana 40,000,000 103,000,000 29,000,000 

Illinois. ., 47,000,000 165,000,000 75,000,000 

Total, 171,000,000 410,000,000 223,000,000 

United States 516,000,000 1,628,000,000 661,000,000 

SECTION. POTATOES, BU. HAY, TONS, 

Territory N. W. of the Ohio 50,000,000 12,000,000 

United States 205,000,000 46,000,000 

It will be seen by the preceding table that of the 
leading food productions, this territory gives us from 
one fourth to one third of all produced in the entire 
United States. 

This territory has 44,945 miles of railroad out of a 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 31 

total mileage of 186,590 in the United States. Of 78 
cities in the country having a population numbering 
over 50,000, 16 are in this section. It has 80 represen- 
tatives in Congress out of a total of 357 from the 
country as a whole. During the last forty years every 
President of the United States but one, who has been 
elected by the people, has been a resident of this sec- 
tion. And that one exception, Cleveland, lived in 
Buffalo, a city just outside the boundary. In all these 
ways are indicated the value and the importance of the 
territory northwest of the Ohio. 

The United States now includes the territory west 
of the Mississippi River reaching to the Pacific Ocean, 
which may be called the Great Northwest, and to this 
vast country the territory north of the Ohio may be 
regarded as the gateway. Had we not obtained the 
gateway, we might not have had any Great North- 
west. Through the open door our people have been 
pushing westward until we now have, comprising that 
section of the Union, the states of Minnesota, Iowa, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, 
Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon. 

We may gain an idea of the importance of this 
Great Northwest by a comparison, as to area and popu- 
lation, with thirteen of the leading countries of 
Europe. 



32 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 



TABLE IV 
Area and Population of the Great Northwest 

AREA IN 

section. SQ. MILES. POPULATION. 

1. Territory Northwest of Ohio 265,000 18,000,000 

2. Two thirds of Minnesota (west of the 

Mississippi) 56,000 1,150,000 

3. Iowa 56,000 2,230,000 

4. Nebraska 77,000 1,000,000 

5. Wyoming 98,000 90,000 

6. The two Dakotas 150,000 720,000 

7. Oregon and Washington 165,000 930,000 

8. Montana and Idaho 230,000 400,000 

Total 1,097.000 24,520,000 

Average, 23 per square mile. 

Principal Countries of Europe 

AREA in 

section. sq. miles. population. 

1. Germany 212,000 52,200,000 

2. Switzerland and Portugal 53,000 7,640,000 

3. Turkey 57, 000 4,800,000 

4. Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, and 

Roumania 87,000 18,000,000 

5. Great Britain and Ireland. 120,000 37,880,000 

6. Italy 1 14,000 30,000,000 

7. Spain 183,000 17,550,000 

8. France 214,000 38,520,000 

Total 1,040,000 206,590,000 

Average, 200 per square mile. 



By this chart it is seen that these countries of 
Europe have a population of more than 200,000,000, 
while our Great Northwest, of equal area, has a popu- 
lation of less than 25,000,000, or one eighth as many. 
Yet this region has a climate and fertility which would 




LAND CLj^IMiS 

OF THE 

THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

I N 1 783. 

New York claimed all the lands west of the Alleghany 3Its. 
and North of the Ohio River belonging to the Six Nations. 




LAND CLAIMS 

OF THE 

THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

IN 1783. 

Itcw York flahned all the lands u'est of the Alleghany MI3. 
and North of the Ohio River belonging to the Six Nations. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 33 

render it capable of sustaining as large a population as 
is now supported in these thirteen countries of 
Europe. 

Of the western territory that came to the United 
States by the treaty of Paris in 1783 a large part was 
claimed by individual states. Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia each had claims on land beyond 
the Alleghany Mountains. A movement was early on 
foot to induce these states to cede the territory to the 
general government. It was contended that all the 
states had fought for independence and that when 
England signed the treaty of peace she ceded to the 
United States, as a nation, the territory westward to 
the Mississippi. This territory ought to fall under the 
control of Congress by virtue of manifest justice and 
equity. At length one state after another agreed to 
cede to the national government all claim and title to 
this western land. 

New York was the first to give up her claim, on 

March i, 1781. Three years later, to a day, Virginia 

ceded to the general government that part of Ohio, 

♦ Indiana, and Illinois which falls south of the 41st 

parallel. She reserved, however, for military bounty 

lands, that part which lies between the Scioto and the 

Little Miami from their sources to the Ohio River. 

This tract covered not less than 6570 square miles, or 

something over 4,000,000 acres. On the 19th of April, 
3 



34 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

1785, Massachusetts ceded to Congress her claim to 
lands west of New York. 

The next cession in order of time was an important 
one, and was made, September 14, 1786, by the state 
of Connecticut. It included all that country in the 
present states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, lying be- 
tween the parallels of 41° and 42° 2' , and west of a 
north and south line drawn one hundred and twenty- 
five miles west of the present western boundary of the 
state of Pennsylvania. All this territory Connecticut 
ceded both in respect of jurisdiction and the rights of 
soil. She reserved the region within one hundred 
and twenty-five miles of Pennsylvania, afterwards and 
still known as the "Western Reserve." On May 30, 
1800, she ceded this section in respect to jurisdiction, 
only reserving to herself the right to the soil. This 
"Western Reserve " comprised between three and four 
million acres, embracing what is now included in 
eight counties. The sale of these lands gave to Con- 
necticut her school fund, which, after the completion 
of the sales, amounted to $1,200,000, but now is 
something over $2,000,000. 

South Carolina, on August 19, 1787, executed a 
deed of cession, accepted by Congress April 2, 1790, 
conveying a parcel of land twelve to fourteen miles 
wide, which now forms the northernmost portions of 
the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. De- 
cember 22, 1789, North Carolina authorized a deed of 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 35 

cession to what is now the state of Tennessee, which, 
after being formally executed by her senators in Con- 
gress, was accepted by the United States at the same 
time with the cession from South Carolina. 

The state of Georgia, after a long course of negotia- 
tion, on April 24, 1802, finally agreed to cede to the 
United States her claims, which covered the whole 
territory between her present western boundary and 
the Mississippi River, excepting the narrow strip on 
the northern border already ceded by South Carolina. 
The United States in return gave her that portion of 
the South Carolina cession which lies east of the pres- 
ent western boundary of Georgia. The United States 
further agreed: (i) To pay out of the proceeds of 
these lands $1,250,000 to reimburse Georgia for her 
expenses in relation to these lands; (2) to appropriate 
500,000 acres to satisfy certain claims against the land 
thus ceded ; and (3) to extinguish the Indian title to 
specified parts of the cession. These agreements 
finally resulted in taking from the United States 
treasury not far from $3,000,000. 

Such is the list of cessions of the territory west of 
the Alleghany Mountains made by individual states 
to the general government. The infant nation was 
then made up of two distinct portions of nearly equal 
magnitude, the first being the fourteen states, includ- 
ing Vermont, situated along the coast and generally 
lying east of the Alleghanies ; and the second being 



S6 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

the public domain, extending from the Alleghany 
Mountains to the Mississippi River, and separated 
into two parts by the state of Kentucky, which 
was admitted to the Union in 1792. The area of 
the states, including Kentucky, was about 400,000 
square miles, and of the public land about 406,000 
miles.' 

Soon after this territory came within the jurisdiction 
of the federal government. Congress passed an act to 
establish a territorial government for all the country 
northwest of the Ohio River. This act is known as 
the famous "Ordinance of 1787," and has often been 
spoken of as the most important act passed during the 
thirteen years of the Continental Congress, subsequent 
to the Declaration of Independence. It provided that 
from this territory there should be erected not less 
than three nor more than five states. Out of this pro- 
vision have grown the states of Ohio, admitted in 
1803; Indiana, admitted in 1816; Illinois, admitted in 
1818; Michigan, admitted in 1837; and Wisconsin, 
admitted in 1848.* A portion of Wisconsin was after- 
wards cut off and annexed to Minnesota. 

This Ordinance of 1787 is specially important on ac- 
count of a provision in its sixth and last article that 
"Hereafter, forever, there shall be neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise 

' See Walker's Statistical Atlas, 

* See Poore's Charters and Constitutions. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 37 

than in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted." 

The binding character of this ordinance is further 
shown by its introductory clause, which is as follows : 

"It is hereby ordained and declared, by the au- 
thority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be 
considered as articles of compact between the original 
states and the people and states in the said territory, 
and forever remain unalterable, unless by common 
consent." 

The southern portion of the public domain was or- 
ganized as the "Territory South of the Ohio," by act 
of Congress in 1790, and the "Mississippi Territory," 
by act of 1798. The "Territory South of the Ohio" 
included Kentucky, which was admitted as a state in 
1792, and Tennessee, which was made a state in 1796, 
when the territorial government came to an end. The 
"Mississippi Territory" embraced the present states 
of Mississippi and Alabama, and this territory con- 
tinued until the admission of the former as a state in 
1817. A new territory was then erected for the re- 
maining eastern portion, called the "Territory of Ala- 
bama," which continued until it was admitted as a 
state in 18 19. 

Two more states, Maine and West Virginia, were 
admitted from the territory that in 1783 comprised 
the United States. Maine, with the consent of Massa- 
chusetts, of which it was formerly a part, was erected 



38 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

into a state in 1820. West Virginia was set off from 
the state of Virginia in 1862, when the people adopted 
a constitution and gained the consent of the governing 
body recognized by the United States as the legisla- 
ture of Virginia. Accordingly, West Virginia was ad- 
mitted by Congress December 31, 1862. Thus within 
the original limits of our country we now have the 
original thirteen states and twelve others,' added by 
act of Congress "on equal footing with the original 
states in all respects whatever." " 

The original territory, which appeared so vast at that 
early period, has all been divided up into states, nearly 
doubling the original number, and instead of a sparse 
population of about 4,000,000 confined almost alto- 
gether within a hundred miles of the Atlantic coast, 
nearly all parts are inhabited and the lands are well 
cultivated. This area now contains a population of 
55,000,000, of which nearly half, 25,000,000, are in the 
twelve states added to the original states mostly 
from the public domain. 

At the beginning of our national career the territory 
was large and the population small. It doubtless ap- 
peared to all, at that period, that the time would never 
come when more territory would be needed. The 

' A part of Minnesota is also from the original territory. 

^ These words are used either in the " Enabling Act " or in the act 
recognizing the new states, in all cases except Vermont and Kentucky, 
in which cases the expression used is "as a new and entire member of 
the United States of America." 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 39 

country originally embraced about 840,000 square 
miles. The actual size of this vast extent will be bet- 
ter appreciated by comparing it with the area of the 
leading countries of Europe. In Morse's Universal 
Geography we find that in 1787 these areas were put 
down as follows: 

COUNTRY. AREA IN SQ. MILES. 

Great Britain and Ireland 100,928 

France 163,200 

Spain 148,448 

Austrian Monarchy 180,496 

Turkey 182,562 

Italy 90,000 

Switzerland 15,296 

Germany 192,000 

Holland 10,000 

Denmark 182,400 

Portugal 27,376 

Sweden 209,392 

Hungary and Transylvania 92,112 

Russia 1,104,976 

It thus appears that the territory of the United 
States, at the beginning of our national history, was 
greater in extent than any country of Europe except 
Russia alone, and much of her land lay valueless under 
the frozen snows of the Arctic region. It was larger 
than the combined areas of the following nine coun- 
tries: Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Hol- 
land, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and 
Transylvania. The average population of these nine 
countries was about 125 to the square mile; that of 
the United States was less than five to the square mile. 



40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

The United States was then eight times as large as 
the powerful kingdom of Great Britain, from which it 
had been wrested by the little army under Washington. 
It was fifty times as large as the republic of Switzer- 
land, which had so long remained secure among its 
mountain fastnesses, although surrounded on all sides 
by powerful frowning monarchies. It was fifty times as 
large as ancient Greece, the fatherland of all modern 
civilization. It was nine times the territory of Italy, 
five times as large as France, nearly five times as large 
as Austria or Turkey in Europe, and three times as 
large as the present combined German empire. 

The founders of this great republic had no aspira- 
tion for a larger empire than could be contained in 
their original limits, and therefore made no constitu- 
tional provision for an increase of territory. But the 
spirit of the people was so progressive and the growth 
of the nation so rapid that the sentiment of the young 
republic might well be expressed in these lines : 

"No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, 
But the whole boundless continent is ours." 

From the treaty of peace until the beginning of the 
following century our territorial boundaries remained 
unchanged. The western limits were the Mississippi 
River, from latitude 31° northward to the Lake of the 
Woods. West of the river the province of Louisiana 
belonged to Spain. 



1787 




CHAPTER III 

LOUISIANA 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, First Consul of 
France, on the first of October, 1800, nego- 
tiated a treaty with Spain by which the province of 
Louisiana was re-ceded to France. This treaty, 
which was concluded at San Ildefonso, in Spain, was 
to be kept secret. In fact, it did not become icnown 
in the United States until nearly two years later. 

The story is told that at one time in his early career 
Napoleon was quartered in a book-store, and there he 
studied geography and history. Even before that, 
when he was at school, his teacher said of him that he 
excelled in mathematics and was very good in history 
and geography. In any case, it is evident that Na- 
poleon had studied the geography of North America. 
He clearly foresaw that this province of Louisiana 
would become an important country. 

This ambitious ruler earnestly desired to build a 
great French empire in the very heart of North 
America. Here was a country four times as large as 
all France, with a delightful climate, a fertile soil, 

41 



42 LOUISIANA 

abounding in minerals of great value, even then to 
some extent known ; a country easily accessible for 
commerce through the waters of the longest river on 
the globe, with its numerous and majestic tributaries, 
that could be navigated to a distance of four thousand 
miles from its mouth. France had been forced in an 
evil hour to yield up this magnificent province, and it 
was natural that Napoleon, in the first flush of his 
great success, having recovered this lost treasure, 
should entertain high hopes of the future grandeur 
which he should there secure. One historian asserts 
that he said: "Whatever nation shall hold the valley 
of the Mississippi will be the most powerful nation on 
the earth." 

However, he had scarcely secured the coveted prize 
when he was compelled to part with it. The treaty 
was a secret one, but the article ceding this territory 
became known, and England, exasperated by the ag- 
gressive and haughty demeanor of the new French 
ruler, determined to check his power, and planned an 
expedition against Louisiana. This was not long un- 
known to Napoleon. Ever watchful against the 
machinations of his enemies, he learned the designs of 
Great Britain, and although he knew himself to be in 
a position that rendered him unable to defend a prov- 
ince so distant,^ he yet determined to thwart these 
designs. 

Just at this juncture, without reference to the state 



LOUISIANA 43 

of affairs in Europe, it appeared necessary to President 
Jefferson that the United States should control the 
left bank of the Mississippi to its mouth. This river 
was our western boundary from its source to latitude 
31°, but south from that point both banks were in- 
cluded in the province of Louisiana. Our southern 
boundary ran from the Mississippi eastward on latitude 
31° to the Chattahoochee River, down that river to its 
junction with the Flint, then in a straight line to the 
source of the St. Mary's River, thence down the St. 
Mary's to its mouth.* The importance to our country 
of the port of New Orleans and the freedom of navi- 
gation on the Mississippi can hardly be overesti- 
mated. At this time the tide of emigration over the 
Alleghany Mountains had set in strongly. Kentucky 
and Tennessee had been admitted as states, Ohio was 
just then knocking for admission, and both the Indiana 
country and the Mississippi territory were fast filling 
up with a hardy and enterprising set of pioneers from 
the East. The great river was their only outlet. 

A right of deposit at New Orleans for the produce 
of the West had been secured from Spain by the treaty 
of 1795. Great obstacles, however, were thrown in the 
way of navigation, and later the right of deposit was 

' It is true we made some claim to the territory below latitude 31° 
between the Pearl River and the Perdido, and probably " manifest 
destiny " would have given us that tract if we had not subsequently 
bought it of Spain ; but in reality we had at this time no just claim 
to it. 



44 LOUISIANA 

absolutely withdrawn by the Spanish authorities at 
New Orleans. In consequence of these threatening 
conditions the people of the western section of our 
country were seriously disturbed, and during Mr. 
Adams's administration measures had been recom- 
mended by people in the West looking toward the 
taking of New Orleans by force. Happily, however, 
the difificulty was at that time averted and quiet was 
restored. 

But the control of the Mississippi was in the hands 
of a foreign nation and the stability of the western 
commerce was still threatened. Finally, in 1802, the 
treaty of San Ildefonso was made public. This excited 
and inflamed the minds of the western people, until 
the feeling was almost universal that the United States 
would be justified in using force to obtain possession 
of New Orleans and the island on which it was built. 
Indeed, our government was in imminent danger of 
being forced by public opinion into some warlike 
action. 

During this state of affairs "an individual was em- 
ployed in this country to intimate to the American 
government that the First Consul would, for the pay- 
ment of a sum of money, consent to the transfer of a 
portion of Louisiana; the sum was mentioned as well 
as the territory proposed for the cession. This com- 
munication, not in any way official, came from a 
quarter sufficiently respectable to attract attention. 



LOUISIANA 45 

though, as Congress was not at that time in session, 
and the proposition involved the necessity of an ap- 
propriation, the Executive preferred to reserve the 
consideration of it for a more suitable season." ' 

It was this proposition, probably, that first sug- 
gested to Mr. Jefferson the solution of the problem. 
If we could purchase from Napoleon the island of New 
Orleans, and perhaps the Floridas,- — for it was then 
supposed that Spain had included her provinces of East 
and West Florida with Louisiana in her sale to France, 
— it would form the simplest and most reasonable way 
out of the difficulty. Otherwise, a costly war seemed 
almost inevitable. 

While these difficulties at New Orleans were increas- 
ing, and before it had become known that the province 
had been ceded by Spain to France, Mr. Livingston, 
our minister to France, was strongly of the opinion 
that we should take forcible possession of the country 
on the east bank of the river. These views of his were 
brought to the attention of the home government. 
Had not a more desirable and more honorable solution 
of the problem been presented, and even thrust upon 
the attention of the administration, it is probable that 
matters would have become so complicated as to have 
rendered that method absolutely necessary. To Presi- 
dent Jefferson's credit be it said, that, instead of yield- 
ing to this demand for forcible possession, he sent 

' United States Diplomacy, vol. i. , p. 379. 



46 LOUISIANA 

instructions to Mr. Livingston to make a strong effort 
to purchase the island of New Orleans. For this pur- 
pose Congress, in secret session, appropriated the sum 
of two million dollars. 

The importance of this course on the part of Mr. 
Jefferson can hardly be overestimated. On the one 
hand, so long as the territory remained in the hands 
of Spain we had little, comparatively, to fear. But as 
soon as the French should take possession, the case 
would be altered. President Jefferson has often been 
charged with partiality towards France, but his course 
at this time was as decided as it was honorable. On 
the 15th of December, 1802, he thus addressed Con- 
gress: "The cession of the Spanish province of 
Louisiana to France, which took place in the course of 
the late war, if carried into effect, will make a change 
in the aspect of our foreign relations." War with 
France was thought to be not improbable. At this 
juncture Mr. Jefferson wrote to Mr. Livingston as 
follows: 

The day that France takes possession of New Orleans 
fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever within her 
low-water mark. . . . We must turn our attention to a mari- 
time force, for which our resources place us on very high 
ground, and, having found and connected together a power 
which may render a re-enforcement of her settlements here 
impossible to France, make the first cannon which shall be 
fired in Europe the signal for tearing up any settlement she 
may have made, and for holding the two continents of 



LOUISIANA 47 

America in sequestration for the common purposes of the 
United British and American nations. This is not a state 
of things we seek or desire. It is one which this measure, 
if adopted by France, forces on us necessarily, as any cause, 
by the laws of nature, brings on its necessary effect. 

On January 13, 1803, he wrote to James Monroe 
thus: 

On the event of this Mississippi River depend the future 
destinies of this republic. If we cannot, by a purchase of 
the country, ensure to ourselves a course of perpetual peace 
and friendship with all nations, then, as war cannot be far 
distant, it behooves us immediately to be preparing for that 
course, without, however, hastening it. 

From these strong words it is readily seen that the 
President considered the case critical and calling for 
decisive measures. This will appear more plainly if we 
recall the statement of his policy in his inaugural ad- 
dress in March, 1801 : "Peace, commerce, and honest 
friendship with all nations ; entangling alliances with 
none." 

"If, now, France is not disposed to cede New Orleans 
to us, we have only one course open to us — namely, 
to unite with Great Britain and the second time drive 
France from America, as we had done once before. 
But, if France will yield to our wishes — almost a de- 
mand — and cede the east bank of the Mississippi to us, 
then we may avoid the 'entangling alliance.' " 

There was a chance, indeed, such as might never 



48 LOUISIANA 

again present itself, for an amicable acquisition of 
this territory, which seemed absolutely necessary for 
our safety and prosperity. "Besides," said one, 
"we are not prepared for war. Ten years of peace 
are necessary to make us respectable and powerful. 
We shall then be in a situation to face every danger." 

Meantime, Mr. Livingston had not been idle, but 
had pressed upon the French government the proposi- 
tion that the United States should purchase the terri- 
tory on the east bank of the Mississippi. He had 
been ordered to make known to the French govern- 
ment the discontent of our western people, and "his 
notes were drawn up," says Marbois, "with a firmness 
to which Bonaparte was not accustomed. If one of 
the continental powers of Europe had dared to employ 
similar language, the invasion of its territory would have 
been the consequence." ' But Mr. Livingston's efforts 
were all to no purpose. He saw no hope that our coun- 
try would ever possess New Orleans by treaty, and was 
fully persuaded that we ought to take it by force. 

It was soon determined to send a minister extraor- 
dinary to France to aid Mr. Livingston in the impor- 
tant negotiation. Mr. James Monroe was selected for 
this responsible mission. He had been governor of 
Virginia, was very popular in the Western states, and 
was favorably known in France, where he had resided 
as envoy in the time of the Directory. Mr. Monroe 

' Marbois's History of Louisiana, p, 238. 




UNITED STATES 



isoo. 

(John Adams' Administration.) 

I I Te7^to7n£s. 

I 1 English i 

I Spanish Poaaeasions. 
1791 Vermont admitted aa a Free State. 
1792. Kentucky admitted aa a Slave State. 
1796. Tennessee admitted as a Slave State. 
1800. Indiana Territory organized. 



1800. 




LOUISIANA 49 

was authorized to offer for the territory two million 
dollars. The French had "committed depredations on 
the commerce of the United States, in violation of the 
law of nations and treaties.' The consular government 
had put a stop to reprisals, and promised indemnities ; 
but nothing had been done towards making reparation. 

In the instructions to Monroe and Livingston, it was 
clearly stated that "if France should avow or evince a 
determination to deny to the United States the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, your consultations with 
Great Britain may be held on the ground that war is 
inevitable." 

It must constantly be borne in mind that the acqui- 
sition of the whole of Louisiana was not included in 
the instructions to the ministers, nor was it, so far as 
appears, thought of or desired by Mr. Jefferson and his 
cabinet. The instructions were plain and definite. In 
a letter to Mr. Livingston, this language is used : "Mr. 
Monroe will be the bearer of the instructions, under 
which you are jointly to negotiate. The object of 
them will be to procure a cession of New Orleans and 
the Floridas to the United States, and consequently 
the establishment of the Mississippi as the boundary 
between the United States and Louisiana." 

Mr. Livingston's earlier negotiations were conducted 
with M. Talleyrand, the minister of foreign affairs. 
All these attempts, however, were apparently fruitless 

'Announcement by Congress, through the President, May, 1798. 

4 



50 LOUISIANA 

until within a few days before the arrival of Mr. Mon- 
roe, when an important change in affairs took place. 
The most that had been said in any way by the French 
government was on the nth of April, when M. Talley- 
rand "wished to know what we would give for the 
whole.'" 

Just here it becomes necessary to develop the 
changed condition of affairs that brought about this 
"Yankee" question, and that resulted in transferring 
the whole negotiation from the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs to the Secretary of the Treasury. Up to this 
point Napoleon had steadily refused to entertain any 
proposition for ceding any territory. Now, however, 
his entire policy suddenly changed. In order that we 
may understand clearly what had produced this revo- 
lution of mind, it is well to read the account written 
by a member of the French cabinet, who quotes 
Napoleon's views in his own words. 

This cabinet officer was a gentleman well versed in 
American affairs, a statesman of great experience and 
not unfriendly to the new western republic. He was 
no other than the Marquis de Marbois, a name well 
known in France and holding an important place in 
French history. He was born in 1745 at Metz, where 
his father was director of the mint. He early entered 
the diplomatic service, and when twenty-four years old 
he was appointed secretary of the French legation to 

' Mr. Livingston to the home government. 



LOUISIANA 51 

the Diet of the Empire, which held its sittings at 
Ratisbon. 

In 1779, after the treaty of amity and alHance be- 
tween France and the United States, he was appoin- 
ted secretary of the French legation at Washington. 
Chevalier de la Luzerne was the Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary, and Marbois cordially accepted the position of 
Secretary, to which was united the office of consul- 
general. In this capacity he organized all the French 
consulates in this country. From 1779 to 1785 he re- 
sided at Philadelphia, near to Congress, during the most 
important years of the Revolution, and subsequently, 
after the return of Luzerne to France, in 1784, he occu- 
pied the post of charge d'affaires for a whole year. 
While in this country he married a Philadelphia lady. 

During the Reign of Terror in France, the Marquis 
de Marbois was imprisoned, and only regained his lib- 
erty by the fall of Robespierre. In 1795, he was 
elected to the Council of Ancients (or Elders), and in 
the struggle that ensued between the Council and the 
Directory he upheld the former and was sentenced to 
banishment. Under circumstances of peculiar aggra- 
vation he was transported to the unhealthy climate of 
French Guiana, where he remained an exile from 1797 
to 1800. In 1 801, he became the "Minister of the 
Public Treasury," and thus was a member of the 
cabinet. It was while he occupied this position that 
the negotiations concerning Louisiana took place. 



52 LOUISIANA 

Exiled by Napoleon during the Hundred Days, 
Marbois was, on the return of Louis XVIII., named 
Minister, Secretary of State, and Keeper of the Seals. 
He soon after resigned and returned to his former 
place in the Court of Accounts, where he continued to 
discharge the duties of his position with wonderful ex- 
actness until nearly ninety years of age. When he 
was eighty-four years old he carried through the press 
his History of Louisiana, which was immediately trans- 
lated into English and published in the United States. 
It is an octavo volume of more than four hundred and 
fifty pages, and for breadth of view, the highest and 
most statesman-like ideas, accurate historical knowl- 
edge, and fairness and impartiality, its superior can 
scarcely be found.' He died, January 14, 1837, at 
almost ninety-two years of age. 

From the history of this remarkable transaction, 
written by the very man who negotiated it, is taken, 
verbatim, the following account of the interview be- 
tween the First Consul and two of his trusted advisers, 
in which Napoleon unfolded his designs concerning 
this important colony : " 

* The History of Louisiana, particularly of the cession of that colony 
to the United States of America; with an Introductory Essay on the 
Condition and Government of the United States. By Barbe Marbois, 
Peer of France, etc., etc. Translated from the French by an American 
Citizen, Philadelphia. Carey & Lea. 1830. pp. 455. Many of the 
above-mentioned facts concerning the life of Marbois are from the 
" Translator's Notice " at the beginning of this valuable volume. 

' History of Louisiana, pp. 263 et seq. 



LOUISIANA 53 

On Easter Sunday, the tenth of April, 1803, after having 
attended to the solemnities and ceremonies of the day, he 
[Napoleon] called two of his counsellors to him, and, ad- 
dressing them with that vehemence and passion which he 
particularly manifested in political affairs, said: " I know 
the full value of Louisiana, and I have been desirous of re- 
pairing the fault of the French negotiators who abandoned 
it in 1763. A few lines of a treaty have returned it to me, 
and I have scarcely recovered it when I must expect to lose 
it. But if it escape from me, it shall one day cost dearer to 
those who oblige me to strip myself of it than to those to 
whom I wish to deliver it. The English have successively 
taken from France, Canada, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, 
Nova Scotia, and the richest portions of Asia. They are en- 
gaged in exciting trouble in St. Domingo. They shall not 
have the Mississippi which they covet, Louisiana is noth- 
ing in comparison to their conquests in all parts of the 
world, and yet the jealousy they feel at the restoration of 
this colony to the sovereignty of France, acquaints me with 
their wish to take possession of it, and it is there that they 
will begin the war. They have twenty ships of war in the 
Gulf of Mexico. They sail over those seas as sovereigns, 
whilst our affairs in St. Domingo have been growing worse 
ever since the death of Le Clerc. The conquest of Louisi- 
ana would be easy, if they only took the trouble to make a 
descent there. I have not a moment to lose in putting it 
out of their reach. I know not whether they are not al- 
ready there. It is their usual course, and if I had been in 
their place, I would not have waited. I wish, if there is 
still time, to take from them any idea that they have of ever 
possessing that colony. I think of ceding it to the United 
States. I can scarcely say that I cede it to them, for it is 
not yet in our possession. If, however, I leave the least 
time to our enemies I shall only transmit an empty title to 



54 LOUISIANA 

those republicans whose friendship I seek. They only ask 
of me one town in Louisiana, but I already consider the 
colony as entirely lost, and it appears to me that, in the 
hands of this growing power, it will be more useful to 
the policy and even to the commerce of France, than if I 
should attempt to keep it. . . ." 

One of these ministers had served in the auxiliary army 
sent by France to the United States during their revolu- 
tion. The other had, for ten years, been in the public 
employ, either as Secretary of the French legation to the 
Continental Congress, or as the head of the administration 
of St. Domingo. 

" We should not hesitate," said the latter minister, "to' 
make a sacrifice of that which is about slipping from us. 
War with England is inevitable. Shall we be able, with 
very infirm naval forces, to defend Louisiana against that 
power? The United States, justly discontented with our 
proceedings, do not hold out to us a solitary haven, not 
even an asylum, in case of reverses. They have just become 
reconciled to us, it is true; but they have a dispute with the 
Spanish government, and threaten New Orleans, of which 
we shall only have momentary possession, . . . Louisiana is 
open to the English from the north by the Great Lakes, and 
if, to the south, they show themselves at the mouth of the 
Mississippi, New Orleans will immediately fall into their 
hands. What consequence is it to the inhabitants, to whom 
they are subject, if their country is not to cease to be a 
colony? This conquest would be still easier to the Ameri- 
cans; they can reach the Mississippi by several navigable 
rivers, and to be masters of the country, it will be sufficient 
for them to enter it. . . . The French have attempted to 
form colonies in several parts of America. Their efforts 
have everywhere proved abortive. The English are patient 
and laborious, and do not fear the solitude and silence of 



LOUISIANA 55 

newly settled countries. The Frenchman, lively and active, 
requires society; he is fond of conversing with his neighbors. 
He willingly enters on the experiment, but at the first dis- 
appointment, quits the spade or the axe for the chase." 

The First Consul, interrupting these observations, asked 
how it happened that the French, who were incapable of 
succeeding in a continental colony, had always made great 
progress in the West Indies. " Because," replied the min- 
ister, " the slaves perform all the labor. The whites, who 
would be soon exhausted by the heat of the climate, have, 
however, the vigor of body and mind necessary to direct 
their operations." 

" I am again," said the First Consul, "undecided as to 
maintaining or abolishing slavery. By whom is the land cul- 
tivated in Louisiana ? " 

" Slavery," answered the minister, " has given to Louisi- 
ana half her population. . . . But for what good purpose 
would you subject yourself to still greater embarrassments 
in Louisiana ? You would there constantly have the colonial 
laws in collision with those at home. Of all the scourges that 
have afflicted the human race, slavery is the most detestable. 
... If, Citizen Consul, you, who have by one of the first 
acts of your government made sufficiently apparent your in- 
tention of giving this country to France, now abandon the 
idea of keeping it, there is no person that will not admit that 
you only yield to necessity, and even our merchants will 
soon acknowledge that Louisiana, free, offers to them more 
chances of profit than Louisiana subjected to a monopoly. 
Commercial establishments are at this day preferable to 
colonies, and even without commercial establishments it is 
best to let trade take care of itself." 

The other minister was of a totally opposite opinion, 

" We are still at peace with England. The colony has 
just been ceded to us, and it all depends on the First Consul 



56 LOUISIANA 

to preserve it. It would not be wise in hitn to abandon, for 
fear of a doubtful danger, the most important establish- 
ment that we can form out of France, and despoil ourselves 
of it for no other reason than the possibility of a war. It 
would be as well, if not better, that it should be taken from 
us by force of arms. If peace is maintained the cession 
cannot be justified, and this premature act of ill-founded 
apprehension would occasion the most lively regrets. To 
retain it would, on the other hand, be for our commerce 
and navigation an inestimable resource, and to our maritime 
provinces the subject of universal joy. The advantages 
which we have derived from the colonies are still present to 
every mind. Ten flourishing cities have been created by 
this trade, and the navigation, opulence and luxury which 
embellish Paris are the results of colonial industry. There 
can be no marine without colonies; no colonies without a 
powerful marine, ... It does not become you to fear the 
kings of England. If they should seize on Louisiana, as some 
would have you fear, Hanover would be immediately in 
your hands as a certain pledge of its restoration. France, 
deprived of her navy and her colonies, is stripped of half 
her splendor, and of a great part of her strength, Louisi- 
ana can indemnify us for all losses. There does not exist 
on the globe a single port, a single city, susceptible of be- 
coming as important as New Orleans, and the neighborhood 
of the American States already makes it one of the most 
commercial in the world. The Mississippi does not reach 
there until it has received twenty other rivers, most of which 
surpass in size the finest rivers of Europe. . . ." 

After a further glowing description of this country, 
its climate, its commercial position, its resources, the 
minister concludes as follows : 



LOUISIANA 57 

"Finally, France, after her long troubles, requires such a 
colony for her internal pacification ; it will be for our coun- 
try what a century ago were for England, the settlements 
which the emigrants from the three kingdoms have raised to 
so high a degree of prosperity: it will be the asylum of our 
religious and political dissenters. It will cure a part of the 
maladies which the revolution has caused, and be the su- 
preme conciliator of all the parties into which we are 
divided. You will there find the remedies for which you 
search with so much solicitude. 

The first Consul terminated the conference without mak- 
ing his intentions known. The discussions were prolonged 
into the night. The ministers remained at St. Cloud ; and 
at daybreak he summoned the one who had advised the 
cession of Louisiana, and made him read the dispatches that 
had just arrived from London. His ambassador informed 
him that naval and military preparations of every kind were 
making with extraordinary rapidity. 

"The English," said Napoleon, "ask of me Lampedousa 
which does not belong to me, and at the same time wish to 
keep Malta for ten years. This island, where military genius 
has exhausted all the means of defensive fortification to an 
extent of which no one without seeing it can form an idea, 
would be to them another Gibraltar. To leave it to the 
English would be to give up to them the commerce of the 
Levant, and to rob my southern provinces of it. They 
wish to keep this possession, and have me immediately 
evacuate Holland. 

" Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I 
renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will 
cede, it is the whole colony, without any reservation. I 
know the price of what I abandon, and I have sufficiently 
proved the importance that I attach to this province, since 
my first diplomatic act with Spain had for its object the 



58 LOUISIANA 

recovery of it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To 
attempt obstinately to retain it would be folly. I direct 
you to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United 
States. Do not even await the arrival of Mr. Monroe; 
have an interview this very day with Mr. Livingston. But 
I require a great deal of money for this war, and I would 
not like to commence it with new contributions. For a 
hundred years France and Spain have been incurring ex- 
penses for improvements in Louisiana, for which its trade 
has never indemnified them. Large sums, which will never 
be returned to the treasury, have been lent to companies 
and to agriculturists. The price of all these things is justly 
due to us. If I should regulate my terms according to the 
value of these vast regions to the United States, the indem- 
nity would have no limits. I will be modest in considera- 
tion of the necessity in which I am of making a sale. But 
keep this to yourself. I want fifty millions, and for less than 
that sum I will not treat. I would rather make a desperate 
attempt to keep these fine countries. To-morrow you shall 
have your full powers. . . . Perhaps it may also be objected 
to me, that the Americans may be found too powerful for 
Europe in two or three centuries; but my foresight does 
not embrace such remote fears. Besides, we may hereafter 
expect rivalries among the members of the Union. The 
confederations that are called perpetual, only last till one of 
the contracting parties finds it to its interest to break them, 
and it is to prevent the danger, to which the colossal power 
of England exposes us, that I would provide a remedy. . . . 
You will acquaint me, day by day, hour by hour, of your 
progress. The cabinet of London is informed of the meas- 
ures adopted at Washington, but it can have no suspicion of 
those which I am now making. Observe the greatest se- 
crecy, and recommend it to the American ministers. They 
have not a less interest than yourself in conforming to this 



LOUISIANA 59 

counsel. You will correspond with M. de Talleyrand, who 
alone knows my intentions. If I attended to his advice, 
France would confine her ambition to the left bank of the 
Rhine, and would only make war to protect the weak states, 
and to prevent any dismemberment of her possessions. But 
he also admits that the cession of Louisiana is not a dis- 
memberment of France. Keep him informed of the progress 
of the affair." 

The conferences began the same day between Mr. Liv- 
ingston and M. Barb6 Marbois, to whom the First Consul 
had confided this negotiation. 

The remarkable character of this interview between 
Napoleon and his ministers, Berthier and Marbois, is 
sufficient reason for inserting it at so great length. It 
will be observed that the author is extremely modest 
and names himself only at the close of the account. 
Nor does he anywhere give the name of the other 
minister, who pleaded his side of the case with so 
much skill and ability, but whose counsel Napolen re- 
jected. From the description which Marbois gives of 
him, that he "had served in the auxiliary army sent 
by France to the United States during their Revolu- 
tion," there can be no doubt but that it was Napo- 
leon's Minister of War, Alexander Berthier, who, when 
a young man of about twenty-three, had accompanied 
Lafayette to the United States, being attached to 
his staff with the rank of captain. In 1799, Napoleon 
made him Minister of War, which office he held until 
1807. 



6o LOUISIANA 

It may seem hardly in accordance with the well- 
known character of Napoleon that he should have taken 
the advice of Marbois rather than that of Berthier. It 
is more than probable that his distrust of M. Talley- 
rand, his Minister of Foreign Affairs, even at this early 
date, was so great as to cause him to withdraw the 
negotiations from that officer and commit them to his 
Minister of the Treasury. It surely is a remarkable 
circumstance that this negotiation should have fallen 
into the hands of such exceptionally able men, so well 
qualified by their previous friendship, their experience, 
and their natural knowledge of the subject under con- 
sideration. The following is M. Marbois's description 
of the three men : ' 

Mr. Livingston, Chancellor of the state of New York, 
had been a member of Congress and minister of foreign 
affairs. He was the head of one of those patrician families, 
which, in consequence of former services, honorable con- 
duct, and a large fortune worthily employed, are the orna- 
ments of the states to which they belong. 

Mr. Monroe, who had previously been governor of the 
state of Virginia, is the same individual who has since been 
President of the United States for eight years, and justified 
in that high office the confidence of his fellow citizens. 

Marbois, who was engaged to negotiate with them, had 
been employed for thirty-five years in public affairs of great 
importance for which his qualifications had been a correct 
judgment, and a character thoroughly independent. He 
had, during the whole war of the American Revolution, re- 

' History of Louisiana, p. 279. 



LOUISIANA 6i 

sided near the Congress, The affairs of this new power had 
long been familiar to him, and those of the southern con- 
tinent had become equally so by a particular circumstance. 
The French Directory, whose improper measures he had 
always opposed, had revenged themselves by banishing him 
to Sinnamari, and two years and a half of exile had made 
him still better acquainted with the wants and general con- 
dition of the colonies. ... 

The three negotiators had seen the origin of the Ameri- 
can Republic, and for a long time back their respective 
duties had established between them an intercourse on pub- 
lic affairs, and an intimacy, which does not always exist 
between foreign envoys and the ministers of the power to 
which they are sent. They could not see one another 
again without recollecting that they had been previously as- 
sociated in a design, conceived for the happiness of man- 
kind, approved by reason and crowned after great 
vicissitudes by a glorious success. This good understand- 
ing of the plenipotentiaries did not prevent their consider- 
ing it a duty to treat, on both sides, for the considerations 
most advantageous to their respective countries. 

The high ideal Marbois had of the American Revo- 
lution is evident in these quotations, and also how 
strikingly the cordial relations of the negotiators 
facilitated the progress of this affair. 

It may well be believed that Mr. Monroe, who ar- 
rived at Paris on the loth of April, 1803, was struck 
with surprise to find how far the negotiations had pro- 
gressed, and to learn the willingness of the French 
government to part with, not a single town and its in- 
considerable adjacent territory, but "a vast portion of 



62 LOUISIANA 

America," four times the size of France itself. The 
United States had "asked for the mere right of navi- 
gating the Mississippi, and their sovereignty was about 
to be extended over the longest river of the world." 

"Deliberation," to quote again from Marbois,* 
"succeeded to astonishment. The two joint plenipo- 
tentiaries, without asking an opportunity for con- 
certing measures out of the presence of the French 
negotiator, immediately entered on explanations, and 
the conferences rapidly succeeded one another." 

There were two questions to be considered by the 
ministers for the United States: 

1. Was it desirable to secure the whole of Louisiana? 

2. What price should they give for it? 
Although the instructions were particularly full and 

complete, yet these questions, being wholly unthought- 
of by the home government, were not touched on, or 
even hinted at in their letters. But, novel and un- 
looked-for as they were, they seem to have caused little 
delay or hesitation. In twenty days from the arrival 
of Mr. Monroe the entire ground had been gone over, 
the transfer agreed upon, the price fixed, the prelimi- 
naries arranged, and the papers drawn and signed. 

These papers consisted of three separate conventions. 
By the terms of the first, France ceded Louisiana to 
the United States "forever and in full sovereignty." 
By the second, the United States agreed to pay France 

'^ History of Louisiana, p. 281. 



LOUISIANA 63 

twelve million dollars. By the third, the United States 
assumed the payment of the claims or debts due to 
American citizens by the government of France, esti- 
mated to be three million dollars. 

It will be seen from this agreement that what M. 
Marbois has stated in his history was true — that the 
"good understanding of the plenipotentiaries did not 
prevent their considering it a duty to treat, on both 
sides, for the conditions most advantageous to their 
respective countries." At least this was true in so far 
as it concerned M. Marbois himself, since it appears 
that Napoleon had limited himself to ten million dol- 
lars, and he secured fifteen millions. 

It is stated that the article which guaranteed full 
citizen rights to the people of Louisiana was prepared 
by Napoleon himself, and that in speaking of it he 
used the following words : 

Let the Louisianians know ' that we separate ourselves 
from them with regret; that we stipulate in their favor 
everything that they can desire, and let them hereafter, 
happy in their independence, recollect that they have been 
Frenchmen, and that France, in ceding them, has secured 
for them advantages which they could not have obtained 
from a European power, however paternal it might have 
been. Let them retain for us sentiments of affection ; and 
may their common origin, descent, language, and customs 
perpetuate the friendship. 

The conventions, signed April 30, 1803, were 

' Marbois, p. 293. 



64 LOUISIANA 

immediately transmitted to the United States, ratifica- 
tions were exchanged in October, and the province 
was surrendered and transferred in the usual form on 
the 20th of December in the same year. 

Is it possible properly to appreciate the significance 
of this transfer? 

1. It comprehended the acquisition by the United 
States, in reality at a nominal price, of a vast amount 
of territory, watered by exceptionally large and naviga- 
ble rivers, with a fertile soil and an excellent climate. 

2. This transfer was made to a growing, young re- 
public, contiguous to the territory acquired, by one of 
the foremost of the ambitious powers of Europe. 

3. The territory was not conquered or forced from 
France at the close of a war, for indemnity or repara- 
tion, but the transfer was a friendly and peaceful one, 
by fair bargain and purchase for a price named and 
accepted. 

This may well be regarded as a novel proceeding. 
Whether we consider the vast extent of territory, its 
subsequent value and importance, or the manner in 
which the transfer was made, it is probably without 
precedent in all history. 

The three ministers, their hearts animated by mo- 
tives of the purest patriotism, seemed to be imbued 
with a sentiment superior to glory. "Never, perhaps, 
did negotiators taste a purer joy. As soon as they had 
signed the treaties, they rose and shook hands, and 



LOUISIANA 65 

Livingston said: 'We have lived long, but this is the 
noblest work of our lives. The treaty which we have 
just signed has not been obtained by art, or dictated 
by force. Equally advantageous to the two contract- 
ing parties, it will change vast solitudes into flourishing 
districts. From this day the United States take their 
place among the powers of the first rank; and the 
English lose all exclusive influence in the affairs of 
America.' " ' 

Having signed the treaty, Napoleon is reported to 
have said as he laid down the pen: "This accession of 
territory strengthens forever the power of the United 
States; and I have just given to England a maritime 
(rival, that will sooner or later humble her pride." ' 

Imagine, now, if possible, the sensation created, not 
only in government circles at Washington, but 
throughout the United States, when the news reached 
these shores that our ministers had negotiated such a 
treaty. The two great political parties then, as al- 
ways, were divided by their different interpretations 
of the Constitution. One party was, and has always 
been, "strict constructionists," and the other, 
"broad" or "loose constructionists." The Presi- 
dent, Mr. Jefferson, was the great apostle of the 
"strict constructionists." What should he do with 
the treaty? The Constitution clearly gave him no 
power to increase our territory. It would be extremely 

' Marbois, pp. 310-11. ^ Ibid., p. 312. 

5 



66 LOUISIANA 

hazardous to reject the treaty, already so advanta- 
geously negotiated. What should he do? 

For a time President Jefferson hesitated. He had 
been willing to take the responsibility of acquiring a 
small district which he deemed necessary for the com- 
mon defense of the country, and for the free naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi, which was the commercial 
channel for nearly one half of the republic; but he 
hesitated to sanction a treaty which would more than 
double our territory, and perhaps bring a train of con- 
sequences utterly impossible to foresee. 

Even after he had decided to accept the treaty, he 
still thought he ought to submit the question to the 
several states in the form of a proposed amendment to 
the Constitution, granting the government power to 
acquire foreign territory. He, however, finally gave 
his consent to the treaty and sent it to the Senate, 
where it was ratified. 

Mr. Anderson, in his Popular History of the United 
States, says of him: "True, he held the acquisition to 
be unconstitutional, but he threw to the winds the 
resolutions which had just brought him into power; 
he broke the Constitution and he gained an empire. 
Can it properly be said that the acquisition of territory 
is unconstitutional? The Constitution does not pro- 
hibit it. Is it not more accurate to say that such a 
measure is merely extra-constitutional, as many later 
acts of government have been ? But, at all events, if 



LOUISIANA 67 

we do not say that he 'broke the Constitution,' yet he 
did 'gain an empire.' " * 

It may seem strange to us at this day that the pur- 
chase of so large and important a territory at so rea- 
sonable a price should have occasioned any great 
dissension among the people of our country. But 
such was the case. No one, however, will now regret 
the ratifying of that treaty by which our government 
obtained complete control of the great interior basin, 
and extended our domain to the Rocky Mountains 
and the tablelands of Mexico. 

This great province was bounded on the north by 
the possessions of Great Britain ; on the east by the 
Mississippi River; on the south by the Gulf of 
Mexico ; and stretched to the west with boundaries 
undefined. We shall find, moreover, that it gave us a 
claim to Texas, and that on its purchase our govern- 
ment based a claim to the Oregon Country west of the 
Rocky mountains. This undefined western boundary 
has been the cause of much confusion and uncertainty. 
Nothing is plainer, however, than that the proper 
western limit of the Louisiana Purchase was the Rocky 
Mountains. No good argument can be found showing 
that the French had any rights or ever made any claim 
beyond these mountains. The charter granted to 

* Popular History of the United States, p. 198. In a note to the 
author, Mr. Anderson says the above is quoted from an address by 
Edward Everett, given many years ago in Nev^^ York. 



68 LOUISIANA 

Crozat in 1712 included only the territories drained 
by the Mississippi. 

Robert Greenhow, who is excellent authority on 
this question, says : 

We are forced to regard the boundaries indicated by na- 
ture, namely, the highlands separating the waters of the 
Mississippi from those flowing into the Pacific or the Cali- 
fornian Gulf, as the true western boundaries of the Louisi- 
ana, ceded to the United States by France in 1803.'' 

When the obscurity of the western boundary was 
mentioned by Marbois to Napoleon, in returning an 
account of the conference, Napoleon is reported to 
have said: "If an obscurity did not already exist, it 
would perhaps be good policy to put one there." ' 

When Canada was granted to Great Britain, in 
1763, the French certainly ceded only what they pos- 
sessed. "It is as a consequence of that treaty, that 
England has occupied territory to the west as far as 
the great Northern ocean."' As against England 
we might with equal force and justice claim to the 
Pacific. 

But Marbois plainly says, in speaking at length on 
this subject: "The shores of the western ocean were 

' History of Oregon, p. 283. Robert Greenhow was for many years 
translator and librarian of the Department of State at Washington, and 
by direction of the Senate prepared, in 1840, a Memoir, Historical and 
Political, on the Northwest Coast of North America. In 1844, he pub- 
lished his History of Oregon and California. 

* Marbois, p, 286. ^ Ibid., p. 285. 



LOUISIANA 69 

certainly not included in the cession." ' And again he 
says: "The treaty of cession to the United States meant 
to convey nothing beyond the Rocky Mountains." " 

The Spanish government at first protested against 
the transfer of Louisiana by France to the United 
States, but its opposition was abandoned, and the next 
year (1804) a negotiation was commenced at Madrid 
between that government and the United States, 
looking to the adjustment of the lines which sepa- 
rated their respective territories. In this negotiation 
our country claimed the whole coast on the Gulf of 
Mexico as far west as the Bravo Del Norte, now 
called the Rio Grande, — which the United States then 
claimed was the northeastern boundary of Mexico, — 
with all the intermediate rivers, and all the countries 
drained by them." 

This question of boundaries with Spain remained 
undetermined until the Florida treaty in 18 19, when it 
was definitely settled, as we shall see later on. We 
shall find, also, when our claims to Oregon come to be 
considered, a further treatment of the western 
boundary of Louisiana. It seems necessary to con- 
sider somewhat fully this subject, both here and there, 
because so little has been known concerning it and such 
erroneous views have been held, even by persons in 
authority. 

' Marbois, p. 286. ^ Ibid., p. 290. 

' See Greenhow's History of Oregon and California, p. 280. 



70 LOUISIANA 

By this single purchase we more than doubled our 
territory and acquired undisputed possession of about 
nine hundred thousand square miles, extending from 
the Gulf of Mexico on the south to the British posses- 
sions on the north, and from the Mississippi on the 
east to the Rocky Mountains on the west. 

From this immense territory twelve states have been 
admitted into the Union, leaving at present the terri- 
tory of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory. The 
states, which together have a population of over 
14,000,000, are the following: Louisiana, admitted in 
1812; Missouri, admitted in 1821 ; Arkansas, admitted 
in 1836; Iowa, admitted in 1845 '■> Minnesota, admitted 
in 1858; Kansas, admitted in 1861'; Nebraska, ad- 
mitted in 1867; Colorado, admitted in 1876'; North 
Dakota, admitted in 1889; South Dakota, admitted in 
1889; Montana, admitted in 1889;' Wyoming, ad- 
mitted in 1890.* 

' Nearly all of Kansas came from the Louisiana territory. The 
southwest corner, south of the Arkansas River, and west of the 
hundredth meridian, was from the Texas annexation. 

^ About half of Colorado came from this Louisiana territory ; the 
southeastern part, south of the Arkansas River, came from Texas ; 
and the entire western section, beyond the Rocky Mountains, from the 
Mexican cession. 

^ Nearly all of Montana lies east of the mountains. That part came 
from the Louisiana purchase. The section beyond the mountains was 
originally a part of the Oregon country. 

* The greater part of Wyoming was from the Louisiana province. 
The southern part, below the forty-second parallel and west of the one 
hundred and sixth meridian, came from the Mexican cession. A small 



LOUISIANA 71 

It would be an interesting and not altogether profit- 
less speculation to consider what would have been the 
effect on the United States had Napoleon been per- 
mitted to carry out his scheme of building a great 
French colony in that territory, which is now nearly 
the geographical centre of our republic, and where will 
sometime be the centre of its population. 

At that time the entire population of the states 
and territories in the Mississippi valley, or, in other 
words, all west of the Alleghany Mountains, was less 
than half a million. The entire white population of 
the Louisiana province, including the city and the 
island of New Orleans, was less than fifty thousand. 
But, even then, the tide of emigration had fairly set 
westward into the Mississippi valley. The half mil- 
lion has now become twenty-five millions, the fifty 
thousand has become fourteen millions, while the 
centre of population is already northwest of the Ohio 
River beyond the state of Ohio, and is pushing onward 
towards the Mississippi River. 

Thus rapid has been the development of this great 
basin, under the fostering care of republican institu- 
tions, aided by the commercial advantages of its great 
river channels. But if a European monarchy had 
held the entire country beyond the river and had kept 
control of both banks at its mouth, the commerce 

portion of the western part, north of the forty-second parallel and west 
of the Divide, came from the Oregon country. 



72 LOUISIANA 

of our Western states would have been effectually 
checked. Free communication by water with the 
Eastern states and other countries would have been 
shut off and the Mississippi would have proved an im- 
passable barrier to the tide of emigration. The sources 
of our growth and wealth would have been materially 
lessened, our expansion checked, our resources crip- 
pled, and our power diminished. If all this had not 
occurred, war would have resulted from constant irri- 
tation and continual misunderstandings. We should, 
by bloody strife, have acquired that great territory of 
which, as providentially happened, we took peaceable 
possession by purchase. 

The result has clearly proved that this acquisition of 
the Province of Louisiana was wise and judicious, and 
it established a precedent which has been repeatedly 
followed. 



CHAPTER IV 

FLORIDA 

SETTLEMENTS in Florida were the first in the 
United States. In many text-books on United 
States history, until within a few years, Jamestown, 
Virginia, has been put down as the oldest town in this 
country. It was the first permanent settlement in the 
territory covered by the original United States. But 
St. Augustine was settled by the Spanish under 
Menendez, forty-four years earlier, on September 8, 
1565, the colony numbering about fifteen hundred 
persons. Ribault, a Frenchman, with a small colony 
of Huguenots, had attempted a settlement at Port 
Royal, in South Carolina, in 1562, but the troubled 
condition of Europe prevented their receiving rein- 
forcements and supplies, and, becoming disheartened, 
they returned home in 1563. 

The next year another colony of French Huguenots, 
under the patronage of Coligny, landed and settled 
near the St. John River, in Florida. The leader of this 
expedition was Laudonnibre, "a. man of uprightness 
and intelligence. " When Philip II. of Spain heard 

73 



74 FLORIDA 

that the French — "French Protestants" — had made a 
settlement in Florida, he sent out a large colony under 
Pedro Menendez to destroy them and plant a Spanish 
colony in their place. The French colonists were 
murdered in cold blood, and only a few of them, with 
Laudonnifere, escaped to France. Menendez then 
founded a colony which he called St. Augustine. It 
is the oldest town in the United States. 

Florida remained in the possession of Spain until 
1763. By the treaty between Great Britain and Spain 
at the close of the war commonly called "The French 
and Indian War," the whole of Florida was ceded 
by Spain to Great Britain in exchange for Cuba. It 
remained an English province — or rather two prov- 
inces. East Florida and West Florida — ^ until the 
treaty of 1783, when Great Britain re-ceded it to Spain 
in exchange for the Bahama Islands. The province 
of East Florida extended westward to the Appa- 
lachicola River, and the province of West Florida 
extended from the Appalachicola to the Mississippi. 
By the treaty of 1795 it was agreed in Article III. 
that : 

"In order to carry the preceding article into effect 
one Commissioner and one Surveyor shall be ap- 
pointed by each of the contracting parties, who shall 
meet at the Natchez, on the left side of the river 
Mississippi, before the expiration of six months from 
the ratification of this convention, and they shall pro- 



FLORIDA 75 

ceed to run and mark this boundary according to the 
stipulations of the said article." 

In accordance with this agreement, President Wash- 
ington appointed, in 1796, Mr. Andrew Ellicott, of 
Philadelphia, commissioner on the part of the United 
States to run this boundary between the United States 
and the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida. 
This was the first international boundary line run be- 
tween the United States and any foreign territory. 

Andrew Ellicott was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
lived from 1754 to 1820. He was one of the most 
noted surveyors of his time. In 1790 he was em- 
ployed by the national government to survey and lay 
' out the city of Washington, which he did under the 
guidance of President Washington and the French 
engineer, Major L' Enfant. Two years later he was 
made Surveyor-General of the United States. 

He received his commission to run the Florida 
boundary in September, 1796, and started at once to 
discharge this duty. He must go down the Missis- 
sippi River in order to reach the place of beginning 
near Natchez. He arrived at Pittsburg in six weeks, 
where he bought his supplies and received his military 
escort, and on the 24th of October they started down 
the Ohio River in three boats. After many vexatious 
delays he reached Natchez, February 24, 1797. Here 
he was detained for an entire year by dif^culties with 
the authorities and the unwarrantable slowness of the 



76 FLORIDA 

Spanish commissioner, Governor Gayoso. He began 
running the boundary from Clarksville on the loth of 
April, 1798. At that time the Spanish commissioner 
had not arrived nor did he appear until the very last day 
of May. Ellicott required him to accept what he had 
already done, and they proceeded. They encountered 
many swamps and experienced numerous and diverse 
difficulties, but they persevered and pushed on slowly 
until, about the ist of December, they reached the 
Pearl River, now the eastern boundary of the state of 
Louisiana. They were delayed some time here, and 
in January, 1799, EHicott went by water to New Or- 
leans for supplies. There he purchased a vessel in 
which to transmit these supplies and sailed away for 
Mobile. While in New Orleans he hired two "com- 
pletely illiterate " sailors, and with their help, himself 
acting as captain, although he had never been at sea, 
he sailed his vessel down the Mississippi and across the 
gulf to Mobile Bay. 

Ellicott drew up a report of their operations and 
made four copies, two in English and two in Spanish, 
which were signed by himself and the Spanish com- 
missioner, confirming all the work done before June 7, 
1798. After that date the work was done, on the part 
of Spain, under the direction at first of William Dun- 
bar, and afterwards of Captain Minor. From Mobile 
eastward they had much trouble with the Creek In- 
dians. They reached the Chattahoochee River in 



FLORIDA 77 

August, 1799, and left there for the Flint River the 
20th of that month. 

From the Mississippi to the Chattahoochee the 
boundary line was due east on the 31st parallel of lati- 
tude. From the 31st parallel they were to descend 
the Chattahoochee to its junction with the Flint. 
From the point where these two rivers come together 
and make the Appalachicola the boundary was to be a 
straight line to the head waters of the St. Mary's 
River, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles, 
thence by the middle of the stream down said river to 
the Atlantic Ocean. 

The obstacles now became more serious. The Semi- 
nole Indians were thievish and constantly stole their 
horses. The country was covered with a thick growth 
of underbrush and small trees through which a path 
had to be cut all the way. Moreover, they were en- 
tirely ignorant of the proper direction, since the lati- 
tude of the source of the St. Mary's was not known. 

Convinced at last that it would be impossible to get 
through this country, Ellicott determined to sail round 
Florida and go up the St. Mary's. On the i8th of 
October, 1799, in a schooner of forty tons, he set sail 
with a part of his company of land surveyors, his mili- 
tary escort, and his two "completely illiterate" sailors. 
The others were to make their way, if possible, across 
country to the St. Mary's. They soon encountered 
a violent gale, but they weathered it and passed Tampa 



78 FLORIDA 

Bay, October 27th. On the 12th of November they 
espied a sloop in the distance, and the question was 
raised at once, "What vessel is that?" The general 
opinion was that it was a Yankee prize, which had 
been captured by a French privateer. It must be re- 
membered that the United States was at that time 
practically in a state of war with France, although 
President Adams and Congress had prudently avoided 
declaring war, and, soon after, the difficulties were set- 
tled by the treaty of 1800. EUicott set all sail and 
bore away in chase. He fired a gun across the bows 
of the strange vessel and brought her to. Her master, 
with the ship's papers, came on board ElHcott's 
schooner. The vessel proved to be a Spanish sloop 
which had been captured by a privateer from New 
Providence. Ellicott apologized, dismissed the cap- 
tain, and sent him on his way rejoicing. 

In the Gulf Stream they again met a severe storm 
on the 13th of November, and five days later they 
were brought to by a New Providence privateer. Cap- 
tain William Ball. At first he was insolent, but when 
Ellicott showed him his commission, signed by Presi- 
dent George Washington, Captain Ball examined it 
with all attention and as much "reverence as if it had 
been a church relic," handed it back with an apology, 
made compensation for his insolence, gave Ellicott a 
fine sea turtle, wished him a pleasant voyage, and 
went on his way. 



FLORIDA 79 

On the 9th of December they reached the St, Mary's 
and met their companions, who had succeeded in mak- 
ing their way through the wilderness from the Flint 
River. Ellicott now ascended the river to its source, 
determined the exact latitude and longitude of this 
point, and erected a large heap of stones, which to 
this day is called "Ellicott's Mound." On the loth 
of April, 1800, he finished his survey, on the 25th 
sailed away, and reached Savannah the ist of May. 
At evening on May 17th he anchored his vessel in 
the Delaware River at Philadelphia, and saluted his 
family, from whom he had been separated by this ar- 
duous and hazardous undertaking for nearly four years. 

Having gained a foothold on the Gulf of Mexico at 
the mouth of the Mississippi, it was soon discovered 
that the United States needed the control of all the 
ports and the entire coast between Louisiana and 
Georgia. It became evident, therefore, that it was 
only a question of time when we should secure, by 
purchase or otherwise, the Spanish provinces of East 
and West Florida. 

Negotiations with Spain were continued for several 
years, with the intention of settling a long list of claims 
made by this country against the Spanish govern- 
ment, and of securing by peaceable cession possession 
of their Florida provinces. During these long-con- 
tinued negotiations the conduct of the Spanish govern- 
ment was of such character as to render it extremely 



8o FLORIDA 

difficult to reconcile her position with honor or states- 
manship. At last, after vexatious delays, a treaty by 
which Florida was ceded to the United States was 
signed on the 22d of February, 1819, by John Quincy 
Adams and Luis de Onis, both being properly ac- 
credited ministers of their respective governments for 
this purpose. The treaty was promptly ratified by 
our government, but, consistently with the repeated 
procrastinations of Spain, already so vexatiously ex- 
perienced, it was not ratified by the king of Spain 
until October 24, 1820. The ratifications were ex- 
changed February 22, 1821, proclaimed the same day, 
and the sovereignty was formally transferred in July 
of that year. 

This treaty was important in several particulars. It 
transferred to the United States the entire country 
east of the province of Louisiana and south of the 
original territory of the United States, for which we 
were to pay a sum not exceeding $5,000,000 to our 
citizens, by way of liquidating claims against the 
Spanish government. This gave us undisputed control 
of the coast from Maine to Texas. 

The third article of the treaty defined the boun- 
daries between the United States and the Spanish 
provinces of North America. Up to this time we had 
claimed Texas as being a part of the Louisiana Pur- 
chase. France had ceded to us all her right, title, and 
claims to the province of Louisiana. Her title was 



FLORIDA 8i 

based on the cession of the same to France by Spain 
in 1800, by the treaty of San Ildefonso ; but this treaty 
re-ceded to France just what France had ceded to 
Spain in 1763. Whatever was ceded in 1763 was ceded 
to us in the treaty of 1803, but in this treaty the 
"western boundaries were undefined." The title of 
France to Texas had been a matter of dispute; France 
had always claimed that it belonged to her, and Spain 
had resisted that claim. 

The title of France was based on her discoveries and 
settlements. The French under La Salle had landed 
a colony of 280 persons at Matagorda Bay, near the 
southwest corner of Texas, in 1685. La Salle had 
previously discovered the Ohio River (in 1671) and had 
sailed down the Illinois and the Mississippi, reaching 
the Gulf of Mexico, April 9, 1682. He named the re- 
gion Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV., the reigning 
monarch of France. After returning to his native 
land in 1683, he recrossed the Atlantic with a colony 
in 1684, and, failing to find the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, he sailed by, and finally landed in March, 1685, 
in Matagorda Bay, and built a fort. His colony be- 
coming much reduced in numbers, he decided to leave 
there and endeavor to reach Canada by land. He was 
murdered by his own men on the banks of Trinity 
River, March 19, 1687. 

From this priority of settlement, the French 
claimed that their province of Louisiana extended to 

6 



82 FLORIDA 

the Rio Grande, and after 1803 we held to the same 
claim. Spain never acknowledged the validity of this 
claim, yet we had never abandoned it. Indeed, the 
Chevalier de Onis, who negotiated the Florida treaty, 
himself decided that this treaty, in giving up Texas to 
Spain, might with greater clearness have been ex- 
pressed thus : " In exchange, the United States cede to 
his Catholic Majesty the province of Texas, etc." ' At 
that time, however, the future importance of Texas 
was not foreseen, and we were not specially averse to 
yielding it in exchange for the claims of Spain to 
Oregon. 

Accordingly, the third article of this Florida treaty 
defined the boundaries as follows: 

The boundary line between the two countries, west of the 
Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth 
of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the 
western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude; 
thence by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where 
it strikes the Rio Roxo or Nachitoches, or Red River; then 
following the course of the Rio Roxo, to the degree of 
longitude 100° west from London, and 23° from Washing- 
ton; then, crossing the said Red River, and running thence, 
by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following 
the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its 
source, thence due north to latitude 42° ; and thence by that 
parallel to the South sea. The whole being as laid down in 
Mellish's map of the United States, published at Philadel- 
phia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But if the 

* Greenhow's History of Oregon and California, p. 317, note. 



FLORIDA 83 

source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or 
south of latitude 42°, then the line shall run from the said 
source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets 
the said parallel of latitude 42°, and thence along the said 
parallel to the South Sea: All the Islands in the Sabine, 
and the said Red River and the Arkansas River, through 
the course thus described, to belong to the United States; 
but the use of the waters, and the navigation of the Sabine 
to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, 
throughout the extent of the said boundary, on their respec- 
tive banks, shall be common to the respective inhabitants 
of both nations. 

The two high contracting parties agree to cede and re- 
nounce all their rights, claims and pretentions, to the ter- 
ritory described by said line, that is to say: The United 
States hereby cede to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce 
forever, all their rights, claims and pretentions, to the terri- 
tories lying west and south of the above described line; and 
in like manner, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said 
United States all his rights, claims and pretensions to any 
territories east and north of said line, and for himself, his 
heirs and successors, renounces all claims to the said terri- 
tories forever.^ 

This third article is here given in full because of its 
importance not only in reference to Texas, but in rela- 
tion to Oregon also. By it we yielded all claim to 
Texas, and Spain gave us all her right to Oregon. In 
the subsequent discussion of our claims to Oregon the 
importance of this article will be apparent. 

But the course of events cannot easily be foreseen. 

' Treaties and Conventions betiueen the United States and other 
Powers, pp. 787-8. 



84 FLORIDA 

Before this boundary line, as determined by the above 
article, could be surveyed by a joint commission, 
Mexico had revolted from Spain and set up an inde- 
pendent government. By a treaty concluded with 
Mexico, January 12, 1828, ratified and proclaimed 
April 5, 1832, it was agreed as follows: 

The dividing limits of the respective bordering territories 
of the United States of America and of the United Mexi- 
can States, being the same as were agreed upon and fixed 
by the above mentioned treaty of Washington [i. e., with 
Spain], . . . the two high contracting parties will pro- 
ceed forthwith to carry into full effect the third and fourth 
articles of said treaty. . , . To fix their lines with more 
precision and to place the landmarks which shall designate 
exactly the limits of both nations, each of the contracting 
parties shall appoint a commissioner and a surveyor, who 
shall meet before the termination of one year from the date 
of the ratification of this treaty, at Natchitoches, on the 
Red River, and proceed to run and mark the said line, 
. and the result agreed upon by them shall be con- 
sidered as part of this treaty,' 

In accordance with this treaty the line was run and 
marked with proper bounds. But the sequel proved 
that we yielded Texas to Spain only to have her lose 
it in 1 82 1 by the independence of Mexico, and Mexico 
lose it in 1836 by its own independence, after which it 
naturally gravitated toward the greater republic, and 
finally its fortunes were joined with ours by a vote of 
annexation, passed by Congress, March 2, 1845. 

' Treaties and Conventions, pp, 542-3. 



CHAPTER V 

TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

THE history of the annexation of Texas, if fully 
written, would form an interesting chapter in the 
political annals of our country. We may not be able 
rightly to judge of the motives and intentions of those 
who controlled our national government in this exten- 
sion of territory, but so far as it was designed to pro- 
tect, extend, and perpetuate the system of American 
slavery, it must be considered a failure. In the light of 
to-day, it can hardly be supposed that slavery acquired 
any greater strength, or was continued in this country 
any longer, on account of this annexation. 

In 1836, Texas declared herself independent of 
Mexico and framed and adopted a constitution ; and 
General Sam Houston was inaugurated President of 
the Republic of Texas. There is little doubt that this 
revolution was encouraged, if not aided, by the states- 
men of the Southern states of our Union. Calhoun 
said : "There were powerful reasons why Texas should 
be a part of this Union. The Southern states, own- 
ing a large slave population, were deeply interested in 

85 



86 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

preventing that country from having power to annoy 
them." One of the last official acts of President Jack- 
son was to acknowledge the independence of Texas. 

For eight years, from 1836 to 1844, the question of 
annexation was warmly discussed in every quarter of 
the country. The North generally opposed it ; the 
South was almost unanimously in favor of it. It was 
plainly apparent that the soil, climate, and productions 
of Texas were such as to make slave labor profitable. 
On this very account the free states opposed and the 
slave states favored its admission to the Union. The 
slavery question had come to be the foremost topic in 
American politics. Disguised as it might be, every 
political issue must be judged and decided, not on its 
intrinsic merits, but by its effect on the question of 
slavery. 

Hang a map of North America on the wall. Place 
a pointer along the western edge of the original thir- 
teen states, upon the general line of the Alleghany 
Mountains, with its foot resting on the Gulf of 
Mexico. It leans to the northeast, but shows nearly 
an equal width of Northern and Southern states be- 
tween it and the Atlantic. 

Place it now along the line of the Mississippi, the 
extreme western border of the original country, and it 
stands upright, showing a wider strip of northern ter- 
ritory than of southern. But should the stick be so 
placed as to indicate our western border, after the pur- 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 87 

chase of Louisiana, it leans to the northwest, and if we 
include Oregon, the North stretches entirely across the 
continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, while the 
South was still confined between the Atlantic coast 
and the Sabine River. Or, to make the discrepancy- 
more apparent, name the States along the northern 
and along the southern frontiers: i, Maine; 2, New 
Hampshire; 3, Vermont; 4, New York; 5, Pennsyl- 
vania; 6, Ohio; 7, Michigan; and the broad terri- 
tory, since carved into, 8, Wisconsin; 9, Minnesota; 
10, Dakota; and ii, Montana — a distance, in a direct 
line from east to west, of fifty degrees of longitude, or 
nearly three thousand miles ; while on the southern 
border were included only, i, Florida; 2, Alabama; 3, 
Mississippi; and 4, Louisiana; an east and west dis- 
tance of only twelve degrees of longitude, or about 
seven hundred miles. Naturally enough, the slave- 
holding South wanted more territory to counter- 
balance the North. 

The question of slavery had proved a vexatious 
problem from the very beginning. England had fos- 
tered the introduction of African slavery into her colo- 
nies. New England had been largely engaged in the 
slave trade, but slave labor had proved more profitable 
at the South than at the North. Before the adoption 
of the United States Constitution, it was clearly seen 
that slavery would soon be extinct at the North. At 
the same time the leading statesmen both north and 



88 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

south, including such men as Washington, Franklin, 
and Jefferson, had expressed themselves, in no uncer- 
tain terms, against slavery as an institution. 

The invention of the cotton-gin changed the aspect 
of the case materially. It made cotton-raising the 
leading industry of the South, and slave labor in the 
cultivation of cotton became vastly more profitable. 
From that time onward the relations of North and 
South, or, as it soon came to be, of the free states and 
the slave states, became less and less cordial. Even 
as early as 1787, in the convention which framed the 
Federal Constitution, the slave question was the most 
troublesome of all. Compromises, however, were 
effected, and finally the Constitution was agreed to by 
both parties. This was only brought about by means 
of the plan adopted for the two houses of Congress. 
The basis of membership in the House of Representa- 
tives was population; and here the North soon had 
the advantage. The basis in the Senate, on the other 
hand, was the equality of the states; two Senators, 
and two only, were allowed to each state. 

At the beginning of the new century (1800), there 
were sixteen States. Eight of these — New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connect- 
icut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — were 
practically free states. The other eight, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were slave states. 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 89 

Let us follow the admission of new states for half 
a century. A free state and a slave state were ad- 
mitted alternately. These admissions occurred in the 
following order: 

FREE STATES. SLAVE STATES. 

Ohio 1803 Louisiana 1812 

Indiana 1816 Mississippi 1817 

Illinois 1818 Alabama 1819 

Maine 1820 Missouri 1821 

Missouri was admitted as a slave state after a pro- 
longed contest, which occasioned much bitter feeling 
on both sides. A compromise was effected by which 
Missouri was admitted as a slave state, with a provision 
forever prohibiting slavery in all of that territory pur- 
chased of France called the Province of Louisiana, 
which lay north of 36° 30', except the state of Mis- 
souri. The feeling produced by this acrimonious de- 
bate in 1820 and 1821 was sufficient to occasion a 
long respite, an extended breathing spell, before an- 
other new state should be proposed for admission. 
Then the process went on as follows : 

SLAVE STATES. FREE STATES. 

Arkansas 1836 Michigan 1837 

Florida 1845 Iowa , 1846 

Texas 1845 Wisconsin 1848 

So long as this condition of things should last, 
neither section would have any material advantage 
over the other, as neither could pass any law which 



90 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

might be opposed by the other. This was true be- 
cause any bill proposed and passed by the House of 
Representatives, where the free states had a majority, 
must also be agreed to by the Senate, and there no 
majority could be obtained against the South or the 
slave states. On the other hand, if a bill originated 
in the Senate and was favorable to slavery, it could 
not obtain a majority of the votes in the House, where 
the free states were in the ascendancy. 

It was, therefore, most natural that the statesmen 
of the South or the slave states, finding their territory 
so circumscribed, while the great Northwest was open 
to emigration from the northern free states, and know- 
ing that the new states which would from time to 
time apply for admission from that section would in- 
evitably be admitted as free states, should desire an 
increase of southern territory. This territory they 
must find in the northern provinces of Mexico. We 
have already seen that, through the efforts of Sam 
Houston and other emigrants from the South to Texas, 
that Mexican state had asserted its independence and 
established a republic. This was accomplished in 1836. 
The new republic of Texas soon began to knock at our 
door and ask for admission into the Union as a state. 
It was natural that the whole South should favor 
annexation. The territory of Texas covered about 
300,000 square miles, out of which might be formed 
nearly forty states as large as Connecticut. It was 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 91 

equally natural that the northern, or free, states should 
oppose this annexation. 

In 1844, the Whig party nominated Henry Clay for 
President and adopted a "concise, loose-construc- 
tionist platform, advocating a national currency, a 
protective tariff, and a distribution of surplus revenue 
among the states." The Democratic party nominated 
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and adopted a "strict- 
constructionist platform, and an article demanding the 
re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of 
Texas." ' This party took the cry of "Northwest and 
Southwest." Its watchword for the Northwest, de- 
signed to please the North, was "Fifty-four forty or 
fight." For the Southwest, upon which to rally the 
party at the South, it was "Texas and annexation; 
Hurrah for the Lone Star." 

Mr. Polk was elected and took his seat March 4, 
1845. Three days before, the joint resolution to annex 
Texas had been passed by both Houses and was im- 
mediately approved by the retiring President, John 
Tyler. The discussion of the Texas question largely 
occupied the attention of Congress during the session. 

Mexico had abolished slavery, but, under the lead 
of the Southern states, Texas had re-established it. 
Propositions to prohibit slavery in Texas were voted 
down, but the resolution of annexation, as finally 
passed, prohibited slavery in any state that might be 

^ Johnston's American Politics, pp. 137, 138. 



92 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

formed from it north of 36° 30', and, south of that 
line, left the question to be settled by the people in 
the states as they were admitted.' 

The terms of annexation were promptly accepted by 
Texas, July 4, 1845, and thus a territory larger than 
France or Spain was added to the republic. The gov- 
ernment of Texas remained substantially as before, 
until a new constitution was passed by a convention 
which met at Austin, July 4, 1845, ^^^ completed its 
labors, August 27, 1845. This constitution was ratified 
by the people, October 13, 1845. Texas was then ad- 
mitted as a state by joint resolution, approved De- 
cember 29, 1845." 

In the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the 
territory northwest of the Ohio, provision was made 
that this territory might be divided into not less than 
three nor more than five states. Similarly the resolu- 
tion for the annexation of Texas contained a provision 
that "new states of convenient size, not exceeding 
four in number, in addition to the said state of Texas, 
and having sufficient population, may, by consent of 
said state, be formed out of the territory thereof, 
which shall be entitled to admission under the pro- 
visions of the Federal Constitution." ° 

Now, the South had apparently secured her share of 
the spoils. Texas had been annexed and there was 

' Johnston's American Politics, pp. 139, 140. 

'^ Poore's Charters and Constitutions. ^ Ibid.^ p. 1765, 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 93 

ample room for slavery to expand. What should be 
the President's response to the question of the North- 
west? Should he adhere to the cry of "Fifty-four forty 
or fight " ? 

In his inaugural address President Polk asserted that 
our title to the Oregon territory was "clear and indis- 
putable," and, moreover, intimated that it was his 
intention to maintain it by arms. Subsequently, how- 
ever, he found that amicable relations between our 
government and Great Britain were seriously dis- 
turbed. "England did not again offer to negotiate. 
A mere partisan watchword was in danger of involving 
the two nations in war. At length the President him- 
self directed the Secretary of State (James Buchanan) 
to re-open negotiations by offering as the boundary 
the forty-ninth parallel." ' Finally, the British govern- 
ment signified that it would accept the proposed 
boundary line. "The President was anxious to relieve 
himself of the responsibility of acting on the proposi- 
tion." ' He consulted the Senate, pledging himself 
to be guided by its decision. That body voted to ac- 
cept the forty-ninth parallel, "and gave him a faithful 
support against himself, against his Cabinet, and 
against his peculiar friends." ' So the treaty was 
signed and ratified. 

The annexation of Texas brought on a war with 

' Patton's History of the United States, p, 697. 

^Ibid., p. 697. ^Ibid., p. 6g6. 



94 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

Mexico. That country had never acknowledged the 
independence of Texas, and the boundaries between 
the two were in dispute. Texas claimed to the Rio 
Grande, while Mexico held that the Neuces River was 
the proper western boundary. 

The constitution of the United Mexican States, 
adopted in 1824, in its enumeration of states, men- 
tions the state of "Coahuila and Texas." In the con- 
stitution of the state frequent mention is made of its 
name, and in all cases it is called the "State of Coa- 
huila and Texas." The fact is that "the two north- 
eastern provinces of Mexico, not having sufficient 
population to enter the Mexican Union as separate 
states, were united as the 'State of Coahuila and 
Texas.' " ' Therefore, when Texas established her in- 
dependence of Mexico, in 1836, she claimed both sec- 
tions, that is Texas proper and Coahuila, the former 
being comprised between the Sabine and the Neuces 
rivers, and the latter between the Neuces and the Rio 
Grande. 

Mexico, however, disputed this claim, and as the 
new state was no longer called, as before, the State of 
Coahuila and Texas, but simply Texas, she insisted 
that the country between the Neuces and the Rio 
Grande was not within the limits of Texas. It should 
be remembered, also, that she had never acknowledged 
the independence of Texas. Meanwhile, Texas had 

* Poore's Charters and Constitutions , vol. ii., p. 1727. 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 95 

taken its place as a state in the Union, and prophecies 
of war were rife. 

In July, 1845, General Taylor, Commander of the 
Southwestern Department, in obedience to orders from 
Washington, embarked at New Orleans and in Au- 
gust landed near the mouth of the Neuces. On the 
1st of March, 1846, he received ofificial orders from the 
President to advance, and on the 28th he arrived at 
the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras. The Mexican 
general on the opposite side of the river immediately 
sent him an order to return to the Neuces, and there 
remain "while our governments are regulating the 
pending questions relative to Texas." ' General Tay- 
lor refused to comply and a battle ensued. This was 
really the beginning of the Mexican War. Congress 
immediately took action, raising more men and ap- 
propriating money, by an act beginning in the follow- 
ing manner: 

"Whereas, by the act of the Republic of Mexico, a 
state of war exists between that government and the 
United States, Be it enacted, etc." 

This war was begun in May, 1846, and was carried 
on until General Scott marched his little army of six 
thousand men into the City of Mexico and hoisted the 
Stars and Stripes over the national capital, Septem- 
ber 14, 1847. A treaty of peace was finally negotiated 
at Guadaloupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, ratified by 

'Greeley's American Conflict, vol. i., p. 187 



96 TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 

the two governments, and proclaimed by President 
Polk July 4, 1848. 

By this treaty Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as 
her eastern boundary, and ceded to us the whole of 
New Mexico and Upper California, comprising about 
600,000 square miles. We agreed to pay $15,000,000 
and to assume and pay the debts due from Mexico to 
American citizens to the amount of $3,000,000. This 
territory now includes the states of California, ad- 
mitted in 1 850; Nevada, admitted in 1864; Utah, ad- 
mitted in 1896; and the territories of New Mexico 
and Arizona, together with a portion of Colorado and 
Wyoming. 

A dispute soon arose as to the boundary east of the 
river Colorado. Owing to the inaccuracies of the 
maps used in making the treaty of Guadaloupe, both 
countries claimed a section of land lying south of the 
Gila River, and known as the Masilla Valley. It was 
supposed that this valley was rich in minerals and 
would be of importance in the future as a path for a 
southern railroad to California. A treaty was, there- 
fore, effected with Mexico, by which she ceded to us 
this valley for the round sum of $10,000,000. This is 
known as the ' ' Gadsden Purchase. ' ' It was negotiated 
at Mexico by General James Gadsden, of South Caro- 
lina, December 30, 1853. 

Thus, by the annexation of Texas and the purchase 
of the northern provinces of Mexico, we added in 



TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO 97 

round numbers another nine hundred thousand square 
miles to our territory, being about the same amount 
as the Louisiana Purchase, and somewhat more than 
the original extent east of the Mississippi, with the 
addition of Florida 



CHAPTER VI 

CALIFORNIA 

OF the territory secured by the United States from 
Mexico, the most important section proved to 
be the California country. The discovery of gold 
hastened the settlement of that region and its subse- 
quent development has been rapid. About the year 
1720, Captain George Shelvocke, of the British navy, 
was cruising along the coast of California, under com- 
mission from the king of England "to cruise on the 
Spaniards." He anchored near the coast and, with 
officers and men, went ashore to explore the country. 
In a published account of his voyage, Captain Shel- 
vocke said : 

The coast appears to be mountainous, barren and sandy, 
and very like some parts of Peru; but nevertheless, the soil 
about Puerto Seguro (and very likely in most of the valleys) 
is a rich black mould, which, as you turn it fresh up to the 
sun, appears as if intermingled with gold-dust, some of 
which we endeavored to wash and purify from the dirt; but 
though we were a little prejudiced against the thought that 
it would be possible that this metal should be so promis- 
cuously and universally mingled with common earth, yet 



CALIFORNIA 99 

we endeavored to cleanse and wash the earth from some of 
it; and the more we did, the more it appeared like gold; 
but in order to be further satisfied, I brought away some of 
it, which we lost in our confusion in China. 

From this account it would appear that this captain 
in the English navy came very near discovering gold 
in California.' The gold was there, but the time had 
not yet come when the fact should be made known to 
man. Nor was it known so long as Spain held pos- 
session of that country. Just a hundred years later, 
Mexico became independent of Spain, but the Spanish 

' The above extract from Captain Shelvocke's narrative is quoted from 
a book entitled The Atlantic to the Pacific, by John Erastus Lester, 
published in London, 1873, by Longmans, Green & Co. Mr. Lester 
quotes the title of Captain Shelvocke's narrative as follows: "A Voyage 
round the World by the vi^ay of the Great South Sea. Performed in the 
years 1719-20-21-22 in the Speedwell of London, of twenty-four guns 
and one hundred men (under His Majesty's Commission to cruise on the 
Spaniards in the late war with the Spanish Crown), till she was cast 
-away on the island of Juan Fernandez in May, 1720 ; and afterwards 
continued in the Recovery, the Jesu Maria, and the Sacra Familia, 
etc. By Captain George Shelvocke, Commander of the Speedwell, Re- 
covery, etc., in this expedition, MDCCXXVI." 

Mr. Lester, in an address before the Rhode Island Historical Society 
in 1873, gave an interesting account of how he came across Captain 
Shelvocke's narrative. He said that a short time previously he was 
stopping for some time in the town of Golden, Colorado. Here he 
made the acquaintance of Captain Berthoud, the chief engineer of the 
Colorado Central Railway. In conversation with this gentleman one 
day, he learned that the Captain had in his possession an old book 
which contained an early mention of the existence of gold in California. 
The Captain produced the book and Mr. Lester made quotations from 
it. Captain Berthoud was a Frenchman, and had brought the book 
with him to this country many years before. In fact, it had belonged 
to his father before him, and was esteemed a rare volume. 

LofC. 



loo CALIFORNIA 

race continued to control the country. Almost at the 
same time that the news of the treaty with Mexico, by 
which California became a part of the United States, 
spread over the country, the news also went every- 
where that James Marshall had discovered gold in 
Captain Sutter's race-course. 

Captain John Sutter was a native of Baden, of Swiss 
parentage. He came to this country when he was 
thirty years of age, and in 1838 crossed the Rocky 
Mountains, traveled through the Oregon country and 
Alaska, and finally went to California. In 1841, he 
built a fort on the site of the present city of Sacra- 
mento. In the early spring of 1848, he was erecting a 
sawmill to be propelled by water-power at Coloma, 
about forty miles from Sutter's fort. A ditch had 
been cut from the river above the mill, about a hun- 
dred and fifty yards in length ; the frame of a mill had 
been put up ; and the flood-gate which should let the 
water in upon the wheel had been put in its place. 
Then it was necessary to construct what is called a 
tail-race, to enable the water to escape freely from the 
mill to the river below. The ditch and tail-race to- 
gether made a descent of perhaps fifteen or twenty 
feet. The ground through which this trench was cut 
had a stratum of sand about two feet deep on the sur- 
face, with clay below the sand, and intermixed with 
the sand and clay were stones of various shapes and 
sizes. Marshall was superintending the construction 



CALIFORNIA loi 

of this mill. During the day he pried up the stones 
with crow-bars, and put them to one side. In the 
evening he raised the flood-gate and let the water 
run down through the tail-race all night. Thus 
the loose clay and sand were washed away and other 
stones were uncovered. One morning after the water 
had been shut off, Marshall was walking along the 
bank of the tail-race, when he discovered several 
pieces of bright metal in a pool of water in the bot- 
tom of the race. At once the thought came to him 
that this metal might be gold. He gathered it, and 
from its appearance and weight he satisfied his own 
mind that it was gold. 

This was on the 19th of January, 1848. Marshall 
immediately communicated his discovery to Captain 
Sutter, and at first they determined to keep the matter 
a secret. It soon became known, however, and the 
news spread like wildfire over the world. It was this 
simple discovery that changed entirely the political 
history of our country. Up to this time Southern 
statesmen supposed they had succeeded in opening 
the way for an increase of slave-territory. They felt 
like saying to the North : "Now we are even with you. 
Admit anew state from the Northwest and we will 
admit a new state from the Southwest. Your people 
will emigrate to the west and carve new states out of 
the great Northwest territory. Our people will also 
emigrate west, and we will match your states with 



I02 CALIFORNIA 

additional southern states from our new Mexican 
provinces." 

But when the existence of gold in such quantities 
became known, emigrants from the whole world turned 
their faces toward the Bay of San Francisco. The 
Sacramento Valley was soon filled with miners with 
pick and cradle. The yield from the gold fields was 
immense. The world has been enriched by it ; but 
another result, which might be overlooked, must not 
escape our attention. More emigrants came to Cali- 
fornia from the Northern states than from the slave- 
holding South. Within two years from the date of 
the discovery of gold, California had more than one 
hundred thousand population. 

In 1849, General Bennett Riley of the United States 
Army, who was in command of the Pacific Department, 
with headquarters at Monterey, and who was military 
governor of California until the admission of the state 
into the Union, called a convention to frame a state 
constitution. This convention met at Monterey, Sep- 
tember I, 1849, ^"*^ adjourned October 13 of the same 
year. The constitution, which was largely modeled 
after that of the State of New York, was submitted 
to the people and ratified November 14, 1849. Con- 
gress passed an act for the admission of this state, 
which was approved September 9, 1850. In this con- 
stitution. Section 18 of the first article, which is a 
declaration of rights, reads as follows: 



CALIFORNIA 103 

" Neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tude, UNLESS FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF CRIME, 
SHALL EVER BE TOLERATED IN THIS STATE." 

Thus California was admitted as a free state. This 
was not done without a severe struggle. In the con- 
vention which framed this constitution the contest 
was sharp and bitter, for the Southerners well knew 
the importance of the issue. The balance of power 
between the slave states and the free states would be 
broken if California came in as a free state. The 
entire South had favored the annexation of Texas and 
the resulting Mexican War, in the hope that this great 
increase of southern territory would enable them to 
keep the balance of power in the South, for as often 
as the North should offer a free state for admission in 
the Northwest the South could balance their vote in 
the senate by the admission of another state from the 
Southwest. Indeed, just as it had been provided in 
the ordinance of 1787 that five states could be carved 
out of the territory north of the Ohio, so on the ad- 
mission of Texas it was agreed that this territory could 
be divided into five states. This has never been done, 
and there is no prospect that it will ever come to pass. 
After the admission of California, no new slave state 
was added to the Union. The secession of eleven 
states and the formation of the Southern Confederacy 
brought on the Civil War in 1861. President Lin- 
coln's emancipation proclamation and the fifteenth 



I04 CALIFORNIA 

amendment to the United States Constitution abol- 
ished slavery and prohibited it forever in our republic. 

The influx of a heterogeneous population into this 
almost unexplored country is perhaps unprecedented 
in history. In 1848, the white population of the entire 
territory of California and New Mexico was less than 
100,000. To-day it is nearly 2,000,000. The popu- 
lation of California alone has increased from 25,000 to 
more than a million and a half. The city of San 
Francisco in 1847 had a population of 450. In 1900, 
it numbered more than 300,000. Nor has this section 
made more rapid progress in numbers than in wealth 
and in the development of its varied resources. 

California is famous for many things. In the first 
place it has its natural scenery, — the grand domes of 
mountain peaks, notably the isolated cone of Mt. 
Shasta, snow-covered most of the year, with its 
extinct crater and its glaciers, the beautiful lakes 
among the Sierra Nevadas, and many other wonderful 
things. The Yosemite Valley and the " Big Trees," 
or the Sequoia gigantea, are the admiration of all be- 
holders. Some of the great trees are over three 
hundred feet high and more than sixty feet in circum- 
ference. Visitors from all parts of the world make 
pilgrimages to the Yosemite and to the "Big Trees." 

The agricultural products of this state are startling. 
Irrigation has done wonders here. Many sections 
which were formerly barren deserts have by irrigation 



CALIFORNIA 105 

been made to produce immense crops. Wheat-fields, 
covering sometimes thousands of acres, fruit orchards, 
vineyards, dairies, and market - gardens abound in 
nearly all parts of the state. In Southern California 
oranges, lemons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, guavas, 
loquats, and olives, besides many other kinds of 
fruit, are raised for the market. The orange crop is 
probably as important as any, unless we except grapes 
and grape wine. The entire number of oranges for 
the year 1900-1901 sent east over the mountains to 
New York, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
and other eastern markets reached the enormous 
amount of sixteen thousand car-loads. If the boxes 
containing these oranges were placed end to end, each 
box touching the next, they would reach from New 
York to San Francisco. This entire industry has been 
created within less than thirty years. 

California continues to lead all other states, except 
Colorado, in the output of gold from its mines. The 
total production of the gold mines of California has 
for many years been from $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 
annually. The largest production in any one year was 
$65,000,000 in 1853. The entire product in a half cen- 
tury is estimated to be more than $2,000,000,000. 

The commerce of California is very large and is 
growing rapidly. San Francisco is the principal port 
of entry and its spacious harbor gives the city great 
advantages; and San Pedro and Santa Monica near 



io6 CALIFORNIA 

Los Angeles are important ports, and their commercial 
trade is increasing with great rapidity. At San Pedro 
the national government is now building an expensive 
harbor and breakwater. The growth of the city of 
Los Angeles has been phenomenal. In 1870, the 
population was about 10,000; in 1880, it was 20,000; 
in 1890, just about 50,000; and in 1900, more than 
100,000. 

The educational system of California is the great 
pride of the people. The State University at Berkeley, 
Leland Stanford, Jr. University at Palo Alto, other 
colleges, the normal schools, and the public schools, 
place this state in the front rank among the states of 
the Union. 

To a stranger entering through the Golden Gate, 
the beautiful and commodious harbor of San Fran- 
cisco, the great extent and variety of the shipping 
which there lies spread before his eyes seem to say to 
him: "California means commerce." Let him pass 
through the business streets of her great cities and he 
will say: "California means merchandise. " On visit- 
ing her extensive and exceedingly productive mines, 
he will be impressed with the thought: "California 
means gold." When he has passed over her extensive 
wheat-fields, his exclamation will be: "California 
means agriculture." But when he has visited her 
schools and colleges, her reading rooms and libraries, 
her charitable and benevolent institutions, and her 



CALIFORNIA 107 

large, costly, and well-filled churches, he will be com- 
pelled to say : "California means more than commerce, 
and merchandise, and gold, and agriculture: — it means 
an intelligent, liberal, and enlightened Christian civil- 
ization." 

We have now considered our original territory east 
of the Mississippi; the large and important province 
of Louisiana, purchased of France in 1803; Florida, 
obtained by treaty with Spain in 1819; Texas, the 
largest state in our Union, annexed in 1845; ^^^ 
Northern Mexico, acquired in 1848. Texas alone 
comprises an area four times as large as the six New 
England states, or 225 times as large as Rhode Island. 

Someone has said that our early statesmen supposed 
"that the Rocky Mountains will probably form the 
western boundary of the United States. Here will be 
situated the temple of the god 'Terminus,' and the 
population, instead of ascending and flowing over the 
mountains on to the ocean, will roll its last and highest 
surf at their feet. Still, to trace the confines of this 
empire is to enter upon that sea, which a great poet 
has described, where there is perpetual darkness and 
no navigator has sailed before; not because its bounds 
and limits are not well marked out, but there is neither 
among ourselves, nor in the history of the people that 
have gone before us, any one trace or circumstance 
that will assist us in designating its development with 
the least precision. The progress of the population 



io8 CALIFORNIA 

has already been an Arabian Night. And, even if the 
difficulty of maintaining the confederacy augments 
as the members recede from the center, nothing that 
has yet taken place furnishes a fact, or even a ground 
for speculation, to enable us to draw the chain where 
the old shall cease, and the new nation arise. The 
point of speculation is not only the sovereign difficulty, 
but so greatly has the progress already exceeded all 
anticipation on the subject (without either shaking or 
weakening the Union), that, with an elasticity certainly 
peculiar to this people, as well as to their institutions, 
their progeny will, undoubtedly, still continue to 
stretch themselves along the Yellowstone and the 
Missouri, their faces turned towards the setting sun, 
and their feelings and sympathies following the flow 
of the waters." * 

But nowhere among the Rocky Mountains was des- 
tined to be the spot where "the temple of the god 
Terminus" should be situated; nor have we found 
that wide degrees of longitude weakened the Union. 
The course of ' ' Empire ' ' has been ' ' Westward ' ' during 
the entire history of our country, and it found no con- 
venient stopping-place until its westward march was 
checked by the "Great South Sea." 

' United States Diplomacy, vol. ii., pp. 120 et seq. Published in 1828. 



CHAPTER VII 

OREGON 

THAT large extent of territory on the Pacific coast 
drained by the Columbia River has for more than 
half a century been an undisputed section of the 
United States. Before that for many years our title 
to it was in dispute. It will be necessary for us to 
consider, with some detail, the steps which led up to 
our final, absolute claim to the Oregon country. 

The Spanish flag was, without doubt, the first to be 
carried along the Pacific coast. Balboa discovered the 
Pacific Ocean at Darien, in 15 13. After him Fernando 
Magellan, Hernando Cortes, Francisco de Ulloa, Ca- 
brillo, Vizcaino, and others explored this coast, but not 
one of them discovered a river, or penetrated the land. 

It would seem that the first English navigator to 
sail along our western coast was Sir Francis Drake, 
who made a "predatory cruise against the dominions 
and subjects of Spain." He advanced as far as 42° 
north latitude in the year 1579. ^^ i^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
went as far north as 48°. At any rate, it is pretty 
clear that the English in 1579 sailed along this coast 

109 



no OREGON 

between the 38th and 43d degrees of latitude. "But 
it is certain that this same coast had already been seen 
in 1543 by the Spaniards under Ferrelo. " ' 

In the year 1788, Lieutenant Meares sailed along the 
northwest coast, and two years later made a report to 
the British government in which he claimed that he had 
"actually entered the bay of Columbia." The British 
government claimed that this was two years before 
Gray discovered that river. In answer to this claim 
of Great Britain, which affected the question of the 
right by discovery, it may be sufficient to state the 
facts regarding the voyage. In 1787, two vessels were 
fitted out at the Portuguese Macao, near Canton in 
China, and they were placed under the direction of 
John Meares, who was a lieutenant in the British 
navy, but was at that time retired and on half pay. 
Meares sailed "in the ship Felice as supercargo; the 
other vessel, the brig Iphigenia, also carried a British 
subject, William Douglas, in the same capacity : both 
vessels were, however, commanded, ostensibly at least, 
by Portuguese captains; they were furnished with 
passports, and other papers, in the Portuguese lan- 
guage and granted by the Portuguese authorities of 
Macao, and showing them to be the property of Juan 
Cavallo, a Portuguese merchant of that place. The 
instructions for the conduct of the voyage were writ- 
ten only in the Portuguese language, and contained 

' Greenhow's History of Oregon and California, p. 76. 



OREGON III 

nothing whatever calculated to afford the slightest 
grounds for suspicion that other than Portuguese sub- 
jects were interested in the enterprise. Finally, the 
vessels sailed from Macao on the ist of January, 1788, 
under the Portuguese flag, and there is no sufficient 
proof that any other was displayed by them during 
the expedition." * 

From the full account of this expedition of Meares, 
as given in Greenhow's history of Oregon, it seems 
clear that the British government could not substanti- 
ate any claim to the Oregon region because of Meares's 
voyage. It is certainly safe to say that no explorer, 
British, Spanish, or otherwise, discovered the great 
river, now called the Columbia, which drains the 
greater part of the Oregon country, prior to 1792, 
when it was discovered by Captain Robert Gray. 

George Vancouver, an English navigator, had sailed 
to the Northwest in 1791, as commander of the Dis- 
covery, to receive the surrender of Nootka from the 
Spaniards, who had been instructed by their govern- 
ment to give up that island to the British. He was 
also charged to make a survey of the coast northwards 
from latitude 30°. The narrative of his voyage was 
published after his death in three volumes, entitled 
Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and 
Round the World. Vancouver gave his name to the 
large island off the coast of British Columbia. 

' Greenhow, p. 172. 



112 OREGON 

On the 29th of April, 1792, Vancouver wrote in his 
journal as follows : 

At four o'clock a sail was discovered to the westward, 
standing in shore. This was a very great novelty, not hav- 
ing seen any vessel but our consort during the last eight 
months. She soon hoisted American colors, and fired a gun 
to leeward. At six we spoke her; she proved to be the 
ship Columbia, commanded by Captain Robert Gray, be- 
longing to Boston, whence she had been absent nineteen 
months.' 

During the interview between these two captains, 
Gray told Vancouver that he had discovered a river 
emptying into the Pacific, in the latitude of 46" 10'. 
Vancouver "gave little, or rather no credit, being con- 
tent with his own examination of that part of the 
coast." On the day after his meeting with the Co- 
lumbia, Vancouver wrote: 

The river mentioned by Mr, Gray should, from the lati- 
tude he assigned to it, have existence in the bay south 
of Cape Disappointment. This we passed in the forenoon 
on the 27th; and as I then observed, if any inlet or river 
should be found, it must be a very intricate one, and in- 
accessible to vessels of our burden, owing to the reefs and 
broken water, which then appeared in its neighborhood. 
Mr. Gray stated that he had been several days attempting 
to enter it, which, at length, he was unable to effect, on 
account of a very strong outset. This is a phenomenon 
difhcult to account for, as, in most cases where there are 
' Greenhow, p. 233. 



M r I 




OREGON 113 

outsets of such strength on a sea coast, there are corre- 
sponding tides setting in. Be that, however, as it may, 
I was thoroughly convinced, as were also most persons 
of observation on board, that we could not possibly have 
passed any safe navigable opening, harbor, or place of 
security for shipping, on this coast, from Cape Mendocino 
to the promontory of Classet, [Cape Flattery at the entrance 
of the Strait of Fuca;] nor had we any reason to alter our 
opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical geographers have 
thought proper to assert in that space the existence of 
arms of the ocean communicating with a mediterranean sea, 
and extensive rivers with safe and convenient ports/ 

After leaving Vancouver, Captain Gray sailed away 
tovi^ard the mouth of the river, which he was sure ex- 
isted, and into which he determined, if possible, to 
effect an entrance. Of his expedition Greenhow gives 
the following account : 

After parting with the English ships, Gray sailed along 
the coast of the continent to the south, and on the 7th of 
May, he "saw an entrance which had a very good appearance 
of a harbor," in the latitude of 46 degrees, 58 minutes. 
Passing through this entrance, he found himself in a bay 
"well sheltered from the sea by long sandbars and spits," 
where he remained at anchor three days, engaged in trad- 
ing with the natives; and he then resumed his voyage, be- 
stowing on the place thus discovered the name of Bulfinch's 
Harbor, in honor of one of the owners of his ship. 

At daybreak on the nth, after leaving Bulfinch's Har- 
bor, Gray observed "the entrance of his desired port, bear- 
ing east-south-east, distant six leagues"; and running into 
* Greenhow, pp. 234, 235. 



114 OREGON 

it with all sails set between the breakers (which Meares and 
Vancouver pronounced impassable) he anchored, at one 
o'clock, "in a large river of fresh water," ten miles above 
its mouth. At this spot he remained three days, engaged 
in trading and filling his casks with water, and then sailed 
up the river twelve or fifteen miles along its northern shore, 
where, finding he could proceed no farther, from having 
"taken the wrong channel" he again came to anchor. 
During the week which followed, he made several attempts 
to quit the river, but was constantly baffled, until, at length, 
on the 2oth, he crossed the bar at its mouth by beating over 
it with a westerly wind, and regained the Pacific* 

The early Spanish navigators were the first to sail 
along the coast of the Oregon country. Although 
they made no settlements and failed to discover the 
river w^hich drains this territory, yet their voyages of 
discovery would give them something of a claim to 
the territory. It is beyond dispute that Gray dis- 
covered the mouth of the river; and the United States 
could justly claim whatever advantage that discovery 
would bring. To make the claim sure, however, it 
was necessary to follow up the right of discovery by 
exploration and settlement. 

At the very beginning of the nineteenth century, 
the people of the United States began to realize the 
prospective value of the territory west of the Missis- 
sippi River. By many the hope was still entertained 
that there might be some easy way across the country 

' Greenhow, pp. 235, 236. 



OREGON IIS 

from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Ocean. It 
was hoped that a navigable river might be found near 
the headwaters of the Missouri emptying into the 
Pacific Ocean. 

Early in the year 1803, President Jefferson deter- 
mined to send out from the United States Army a 
party under competent leadership, which should ex- 
plore the country traversed by the Missouri River, and 
then should seek and trace to its termination in the 
Pacific Ocean some stream, whether the Columbia, the 
Oregon, the Colorado, or any other, which might offer 
the most direct and practicable water communication 
across the continent for the purposes of commerce. 
The initiative for this exploring expedition was taken 
by the President before he had any thought or inten- 
tion of buying the Louisiana province. He addressed 
a confidential message to Congress on the i8th of Jan- 
uary, 1803, recommending such an expedition. Con- 
gress approved the plan, and Jefferson selected Captain 
Meriwether Lewis of the regular army to command 
the expedition. Meanwhile, our government had pur- 
chased from Napoleon the whole territory of the Mis- 
souri River. 

Captain Lewis's party was not organized until the early 
spring of 1804. In March of that year, the President 
appointed William Clark second lieutenant, with orders 
to join Captain Lewis for his exploring expedition to 
the Pacific coast. The party was made up of Captain 



ii6 OREGON 

Lewis, Lieutenant Clark, fourteen soldiers, nine young 
men from Kentucky, two Canadian boatmen, an inter- 
preter, a hunter, and a negro servant of Lieutenant 
Clark. 

During the summer of 1804, they ascended the Mis- 
souri River and encamped for the winter among the 
Mandan Indians, in latitude 47° 21', in what is now 
Montana, a little north of the city of Helena, between 
that city and Fort Benton. On the 7th of April, 1805, 
they struck camp and began the difficult ascent of the 
Rocky Mountains. They passed the divide in Sep- 
tember, and reached the mouth of the Columbia on 
the 15th of November, having traversed the entire dis- 
tance down the Columbia and its branches, through 
what are now the states of Idaho, Washington, and 
Oregon. They had traveled more than four thousand 
miles from their starting-point near the junction of the 
Missouri with the Mississippi. The next winter was 
passed in an entrenched camp, near the south bank of 
the Columbia, on the western side of Young's Bay. 
In March, 1806, they began the ascent of the Columbia 
River on their homeward journey. They crossed the 
mountains on horseback, and in August re-embarked 
on the Missouri River, reaching St. Louis in Septem- 
ber, after an absence of nearly two years and a half. 
A narrative of the expedition was prepared from ma- 
terials furnished by Lewis and Clark, and was published 
in two volumes in 18 14. The report demonstrated the 



OREGON 117 

practicability of establishing a line of communication 
across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

This government expedition through the country 
drained by the Columbia furnished the grounds for the 
second claim of the United States to that great region, 
the claim by right of exploration. 

The next step towards the possession of the Oregon 
country was that of settlement, and the first movement 
in this direction was made by John Jacob Astor. Mr, 
Astor came to the United States from Germany in 
1783, when he was twenty years of age. On his voy- 
age across the Atlantic he made the acquaintance of a 
furrier who told him of the great profits to be made by 
buying furs of Indians and white trappers, and selling 
them to the large dealers. Following this suggestion, 
he established himself in New York City, and devel- 
oped a fur trade, dealing largely with the great Eng- 
lish fur companies. As early as the year 1809, he 
conceived a scheme of national importance. His pro- 
ject was to establish a line of trading posts all the way 
from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, to build up 
a central station near the mouth of the Columbia River, 
to acquire one of the Sandwich Islands, and establish 
a line of vessels between our Pacific coast and China 
and India. 

Mr. Astor was fully aware of the opposition which 
he would meet from the British fur companies. The 
great Hudson Bay Company was very powerful, and 



ii8 OREGON 

wherever it went had monopolized all trade. The 
Northwest Company, with headquarters at Montreal, 
was carrying on a large business with the Indians east 
of the Rocky Mountains, To avoid opposition, Mr. 
Astor at first proposed to unite with the Northwest 
Company, giving it a large interest in the business 
which he intended to establish. This Company, how- 
ever, was already successful, and it was hoping to 
secure the mouth of the Columbia River before Mr. 
Astor's party could reach it. The members of the 
Northwest Company felt that they had the whole loaf, 
and they did not care to share it with the German 
American. They therefore declined his proposal. 

Among the clerks of the Northwest Company were 
several men of experience and ability who were some- 
what dissatisfied with their position, not having been 
promoted as they thought they deserved. With these 
men, Alexander McKay, Duncan McDougal, and 
Donald McKenzie, Mr. Astor negotiated. They were 
to be partners with Mr. Astor, receiving a share of the 
profits; but Mr. Astor was to furnish the entire capi- 
tal. He selected as his chief agent, to represent him 
in the establishment, Mr. Wilson Price Hunt of New 
Jersey. These five men formed a company to be 
called "The Pacific Fur Company." Mr. Astor was 
to be at the head of the Company and manage its 
affairs in New York. He was to furnish vessels, 
goods, arms, ammunition, provisions, and all things 



OREGON 119 

required for the enterprise at first cost and charges, to 
the extent, if needed, of four hundred thousand dollars. 

Mr. Astor now planned two expeditions to the 
Columbia River, one by sea, the other by land. He 
secured a fine ship named the Tonquin, of 290 tons 
burden, mounting ten guns, and manned by a crew of 
twenty men. This vessel was placed in command of 
Captain Jonathan Thorn, a first lieutenant in the 
American Navy, on furlough for this purpose. Be- 
sides the crew on this vessel, there were thirty-three 
passengers. These passengers included Astor's part- 
ners, ten or twelve clerks, half a dozen boatmen, a ship 
carpenter, a cooper, a rigger, a calker, a blacksmith, 
and other mechanics. The voyage was made around 
Cape Horn, and a memorable voyage it was to all who 
were engaged in it. The best and most reliable ac- 
count of this voyage was written by Gabriel Franchfere, 
a Canadian,' who was one of the passengers. 

Captain Thorn was an arbitrary and irascible man, 
and it may well be supposed that some friction would 
be inevitable between the passengers and the captain. 
An incident which occurred at the Falkland Islands, 
near the southern extremity of South America, will 
illustrate the condition of affairs. They anchored off 
these desolate rocks, and sent boats to the island for 

' An exceedingly interesting story of the voyage of this ship, and the 
entire history of the settlement at the mouth of the Columbia, entitled 
Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
was written by Washington Irving. 



I20 OREGON 

fresh water. This was in the early part of December, 
1810, which was good summer weather in that hemi- 
sphere. The water casks were put on shore and the 
cooper was to superintend filling them. The pas- 
sengers erected a tent near the spring, and while the 
seamen were taking in water, roamed over the island 
for several days, killing wild geese and ducks and 
securing eggs. They also killed many seals. They 
stayed so long on the island that the captain became 
impatient and signalled fpr the boat to return. This 
signal was not seen, or at any rate not regarded, by 
those on shore. Some of the men were cutting grass 
for the hogs, and two of the partners had gone to the 
other side of the island to look for game. The roaring 
of the sea against the rock-bound shore prevented 
them from hearing the signal gun which had been fired 
from the ship. Captain Thorn then weighed anchor 
and made sail. 

The eight men on shore, when they observed that 
the Tonquin was under way, crowded into a boat but 
twenty feet in length and rowed with all their might 
to reach the vessel, but they were unable to gain on 
her. They had already lost sight of the island and 
their case seemed desperate; they had no compass, 
and were ready to give up all hope of reaching the 
ship. Just then they observed the ship tacking and 
standing toward them. After rowing for three hours 
and a half, we may imagine that they were in "an ex- 



OREGON 121 

cited state of feeling not easily described, when they 
were taken on board the vessel at about three o'clock 
in the afternoon." 

The friends of these men had begged the captain not 
to put to sea without them, but he was deaf to their 
entreaties. He gave peremptory orders to weigh 
anchor, hoist sail, and proceed on the course. Finally, 
young Mr, Stuart, whose uncle was one of the party 
in the boat, "and who, seeing that the captain, far 
from waiting for them, coolly continued his course, 
stepped up to the captain pistol in hand, and threat- 
ened to blow his brains out unless he hove to and took 
them on board." ' "We can hardly believe that the 
captain really intended to carry his threat into full 
effect, and rather think that he meant to let the lag- 
gards off for a long pull and a hearty fright. He de- 
clared, however, in his letter to Mr. Astor, that he was 
serious in his threats ; and there is no knowing how far 
such an iron man may push his notions of authority." ^ 

They continued their voyage, doubling Cape Horn 
on Christmas day, and sighted the snowy peaks of the 
Sandwich Islands in February. They arrived at the 
mouth of the Columbia River the last of March, and 
succeeded in getting over the bar, but only with diffi- 
culty. Early in April the vessel anchored in Baker's 
Bay, and a party under McDougal set out in a boat to 
determine the place of settlement. They selected a 

' Franch^re, p. 48. * Irving's Astoria, vol. i., p. 63. 



122 OREGON 

spot on the south bank of the river, a small peninsula 
called Point George, on the side of the promontory 
which juts out between the Columbia River and 
Young's Bay. The spot selected for the fort was back 
from the river some distance on an elevated plateau, 
which is now near the center of the city of Astoria. 

McDougal and his party were glad to get out from 
under the dominion of the arbitrary captain, but 
Thorn's trials were not yet ended. The Tonquin was 
to coast along northwards, trading at the different 
harbors for furs, and to touch at Astoria on her return 
in the autumn. On the 5th of June the vessel got 
over the bar and sailed away in the Pacific towards the 
North with twenty-three persons on board. Captain 
Thorn continued his course and arrived in a few days 
at Vancouver's Island. On the way he had picked up 
an Indian from a canoe who agreed to accompany him 
and act as interpreter. This Indian warned Captain 
Thorn against the Indians of the locality where he had 
anchored, saying that they were utterly untrustworthy 
and revengeful. Captain Thorn, however, paying no 
attention to him, opened trade with the natives; and 
through treachery the captain, his vessel, and crew, 
were destroyed. Irving gives a graphic account of 
the disaster.' 

It will be remembered that Mr. Astor intended to 
send a party overland in addition to the company 

^YWiXi^s Astoria, vol. i., pp. 116-123. 



OREGON 123 

which was despatched by water on the Tonquin. This 
overland detachment consisted of about sixty men, 
under the chief agent, Mr. William Hunt. They 
ascended the Missouri River in boats for nearly fifteen 
hundred miles, and then took a westward course to 
the Rocky Mountains, which they crossed in Septem- 
ber, 181 1, near the head of the Yellowstone River. 
This was farther south than the pass of Lewis and 
Clark's crossing. Subsequent caravans learned a short 
route up the Piatt River and through the South Pass, 
but the route taken by Mr. Hunt and his party was 
many hundred miles longer and far more difificult. 
Having crossed the Rocky Mountains, they pushed 
their way down the Snake River, through a country 
exceedingly difificult to traverse, where they were sub- 
ject to extreme hardships. They came to the Colum- 
bia, succeeded in descending that river, and finally 
reached Astoria in separate parties during the months 
of January and February, 18 12. They had been more 
than a year upon their perilous journey, and several 
of the number had perished on the way. Soon after 
the arrival of Hunt's party, they welcomed the first 
vessel from New York, the Beaver, which brought a 
third detachment for the settlement, under the leader- 
ship of Mr. Clark, and also some natives of the Sand- 
wich Islands, who had been engaged as seamen or 
laborers. 

The new settlement was now well under way. A 



124 OREGON 

stockade and a blockhouse were built, and means were 
provided for repelling the enemy in case of assault or 
siege. 

Let us consider for a moment the difficult situation 
in which those people found themselves. They were 
the only settlement of white people in that lone country 
on the shore of the great ocean, thousands of miles 
from their homes, their friends, and their national 
government. The Rocky Mountains seemed to them 
a barrier almost absolutely impassable. One company 
of them, it is true, had crossed this barrier, but amid 
the severest hardships, which again and again nearly 
brought destruction to the whole party. By water, 
a voyage of ten thousand miles and more lay between 
them and New York, and they had no vessel in which 
to return had they been so disposed. The only in- 
habitants of the country where they were endeavoring 
to effect a settlement, were North American Indians, 
most of whom were naturally hostile, and all of them 
could easily be made so. Indeed, to preserve friend- 
ship with any of them required the utmost care and 
the most dexterous manoeuvering. Nor did these 
difficulties exhaust the list of their troubles. 

Mr. Astor had made several mistakes in his plans. 
He was a native of Germany, and not to the manner 
born in this country. He knew well the strained re- 
lations between the United States and Great Britain 
at that time, yet he did not seem to be governed at 



OREGON 125 

all in his plans by a knowledge of the situation. His 
first mistake was in offering to the Northwest Fur 
Company of Montreal, composed of British subjects, 
an interest in his enterprise. His second error was 
in associating with himself, as partners in the business, 
British subjects from Montreal. His third mistake 
was in placing McDougal in charge of affairs during 
the absence of Mr. Hunt, Indeed, Mr. Hunt should 
not have left Astoria for the Sandwich Islands as he did 
just at a critical time, although of course national affairs 
could not be known by him at that distant point. 

The business, however, was prosperous; the trade 
in furs with the Indians was large and constantly in- 
creasing; and establishments were planted far up the 
Columbia and its branches. But in 18 12 came our war 
with Great Britain. The news of the war penetrated 
even to that remote country — as it were, at the ends of 
the earth. There had already been some intercourse 
between Mr. Astor's agents and those of the British 
companies. Scarcely had McDougal and his company 
established themselves at Astoria, when Mr. Thomp- 
son, an agent of the Northwest Company, made them 
a visit. He was received by McDougal cordially, 
rather as a friend and brother than as the representa- 
tive of a competing company. In 18 13, a party of 
men connected with the Northwest Fur Company, 
seventy-five in number, came down the Columbia to 
Astoria in ten canoes, headed by McTavish and Stuart. 



126 OREGON 

Negotiations immediately began between McDougal 
and McTavish. for the sale of Astoria to the North- 
west Company, McDougal was then in full charge of 
the Pacific Fur Company, while Mr. Hunt was absent 
on a voyage to the Sandwich Islands. The sale was 
soon effected and prices were fixed. The entire stock 
of furs on hand, goods of every kind, both at Astoria 
and throughout the interior, with all the property of 
the different posts, were turned over to the Northwest 
Company, practically at about ten per cent, on cost 
and charges. The entire sale amounted to less than 
sixty thousand dollars. After back wages had been 
paid to the employees and other charges, there was 
left for Mr. Astor about forty thousand dollars net. 
Mr. Astor later estimated the true value of the prop- 
erty to be nearly two hundred thousand dollars. But 
the deed was done ; Astor had no recourse. A written 
bill of sale was made, detailing the goods sold by the 
one party and bought by the other, and this bill of 
sale was signed by Duncan McDougal, J. G. McTavish, 
and J. Stuart, and witnessed by seven persons. 

Some excuse may perhaps be made for McDougal's 
blunder, inasmuch as McTavish and Stuart had in- 
formed him that the Isaac Todd, a British war vessel, 
had sailed from London to capture Astoria. The 
Isaac Todd did not reach Oregon, but another sloop 
of war arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River 
almost immediately after the sale had been made, and 



OREGON 127 

while the parties in interest were still busy taking an 
inventory of the furs and goods at Astoria and trans- 
ferring them to the new owners. 

The British government was well informed con- 
cerning this venture of Mr. Astor, but the value of 
the establishment and its stock of furs had been over- 
estimated. One might imagine the conferences held 
in London, when the great value of this new establish- 
ment upon the Columbia was discussed and plans were 
made for its capture. Captain Black, in the sloop of 
war Raccoon, sailed from London across the Atlantic, 
around Cape Horn, halting with other British vessels 
at Juan Fernandez, and then made the long voyage 
northward through the waters of the Pacific to latitude 
47° north, with high hopes of a rich share of prize 
money to be secured from the capture of this great 
American fort. The following account of Captain 
Black's doings at Astoria and matters connected there- 
with is taken from Adventures on the Columbia River, 
by John Ross Cox : 

The Isaac Todd sailed from London in March, 1813, 
in company with the Phoebe, frigate, and the Cherub and 
Raccoon, sloops of war. They arrived safe at Rio Janeiro, 
and thence proceeded around Cape Horn to the Pacific, 
having previously made arrangements to meet at Juan Fer- 
nandez. The three men-of-war reached the latter island, 
after encountering dreadful gales about the Cape; they 
waited there some time for the Isaac Todd; but as she did 
not make her appearance, Commodore Hillyer did not 



128 OREGON 

deem it prudent to remain any longer inactive. He, there- 
fore, in company with the Cherub^ proceeded in search of 
Commodore Porter, who, in the American frigate Essex^ 
was clearing the South Sea of English whalers, and inflict- 
ing other injuries of a serious nature on our commerce; he 
shortly after met the Essex at Valparaiso, and, after a severe 
contest, captured her. 

At the same time, he ordered Captain Black, in the Rac- 
coon^ to proceed direct to the Columbia, for the purpose of 
destroying the American establishment at Astoria, The 
Raccoon arrived at the Columbia on the first of December, 
1813. The surprise and disappointment of Captain Black 
and his officers were extreme, on learning the arrangement 
that had taken place between the two companies, by which 
the establishment had become British property. They had 
calculated on obtaining a splendid prize by the capture of 
Astoria, the strength and importance of which had been 
much magnified; and the contracting parties were therefore 
fortunate in having closed their bargain previous to the ar- 
rival of the Raccoon. On looking at the wooden fortifica- 
tions. Captain Black exclaimed: "Is this the fort about 
which I have heard so much ? Zounds, but I 'd batter it 
down in two hours with a four-pounder. ' ' Captain Black, 
however, took possession of Astoria in the name of his 
Britannic majesty, and rebaptized it by the name of "Fort 
George." He also insisted on having an inventory taken 
of the valuable stock of furs, and all other property pur- 
chased from the American Company, with a view to the 
adoption of ulterior proceedings in England for the recov- 
ery of the value from the North-west Company; but he 
subsequently relinquished this idea, and we heard no more 
about his claims. 

The Indians at the mouth of the Columbia knew well that 
America and Great Britain were distinct nations, and that 



OREGON 129 

they were then at war, but were ignorant of the arrangement 
made between Messrs. McDougal and McTavish, the former 
of whom still continued as nominal chief at the fort. On 
the arrival of the Raccoon, which they speedily discovered 
to be one of "King George's fighting ships," they repaired, 
armed, to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. Mc- 
Dougal. He was somewhat surprised at their numbers and 
warlike appearance, and demanded the object of such an 
unusual visit. Comcomly, the principal chief of the Chi- 
nooks, (whose daughter McDougal had married,) thereupon 
addressed him in a long speech, in the course of which he 
said that King George had sent a ship full of warriors, and 
loaded with nothing but big guns, to take the Americans and 
make them all slaves, and that, as they (the Americans) 
were the first white men who had settled in their country, 
and treated the Indians like good relations, they had re- 
solved to defend them from King George's warriors, and 
were now ready to conceal themselves in the woods close 
to the wharf, from whence they would be able, with their 
guns and arrows, to shoot all the men who should attempt 
to land from the English boats, while the people in the fort 
could fire at them with their big guns and rifles. This 
proposition was uttered with an earnestness of manner that 
left no doubt of its sincerity. 

Two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching; 
and, had the people at the fort felt disposed to accede to 
the wishes of the Indians, every man in them would have 
been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal 
thanked them for their friendly offer, but added, that, not- 
withstanding the nations were at war, the people in the 
boats would not injure him or any of his people, and there- 
fore requested them to throw by their war-shirts and arms, 
and receive the strangers as their friends. They first seemed 
astonished at this answer; but, on assuring them, in the 



I30 OREGON 

most positive manner, that he was under no apprehensions, 
they consented to give up their weapons for a few days. 
They afterward declared they were sorry for having com- 
plied with Mr. McDougal's wishes; for when they saw Cap- 
tain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines, break 
the bottle of port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British en- 
sign, after changing the name of the fort, they remarked 
that, however we might wish to conceal the fact, the Ameri- 
cans were undoubtedly made slaves; and they were not con- 
vinced of their mistake until the sloop of war had departed 
without taking any prisoners/ 

The matter did not end here. Of the further de- 
velopments, we have this account : 

The capture of Astoria by the British, and the transfer of 
the Pacific Company's establishments on the Columbia to 
the Northwest Company, were not known to the Plenipo- 
tentiaries of the United States at Ghent, on the 24th of De- 
cember, 1814, when they signed the treaty of peace between 
their country and Great Britain. That treaty contains no 
allusion whatsoever to the Northwest coasts of America, or 
to any portion of the continent west of the Lake of the 
Woods. The plenipotentiaries of the United States had 
been instructed by their government to consent to no claim 
on the part of Great Britain to territory in that quarter south 
of that parallel of latitude, for reasons which we have al- 
ready stated; and, after some discussion, they proposed to 
the British an article similar in effect to the fifth article of 
the convention signed, but not definitively concluded, in 
1807, according to which, a line drawn along that parallel 
should separate the territories of the powers so far as they 
extended west of the Lake of the Woods, provided however, 
' Greenhow, pp. 444, 445. 



OREGON 131 

that nothing in the article should be construed as applying 
to any country west of the Rocky Mountains. The British 
plenipotentiaries were willing to accept this article, if it 
were also accompanied by provision that their subjects 
should have access to the Mississippi river through the ter- 
ritory of the United States, and the right of navigating it to 
the sea; but the Americans positively refused to agree to 
such a stipulation, and the question of the boundaries west 
of the Lake of the Woods was left unsettled by the treaty. 

It was nevertheless agreed, in the first article of the treaty 
of Ghent, that "all territory, places, and possessions, what- 
soever, taken by either party from the other during the war, 
or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, ex- 
cepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, [in the Bay 
of Fundy,] shall be restored without delay "; and, in virtue 
of this article, Mr. Monroe, the secretary of state of the 
United States, on the i8th of July, 1815, announced to Mr. 
Baker, the charge d'affaires of Great Britain at Washington, 
that the president intended immediately to reoccupy the 
post at the mouth of the Columbia. This determination 
seems to have been taken partly at the instance of Mr. As- 
tor, who was anxious, if possible, to recommence operations 
on his former plan in north-west America; but no measures 
were adopted for the purpose until September, 1817, when 
Captain J. Biddle, commanding the sloop of war Ontario^ 
and Mr. J. B. Prevost, were jointly commissioned to pro- 
ceed in that ship to the mouth of the Columbia, and there, 
" to assert the claim of the United States to the sovereignty 
of the adjacent country, in a friendly and peaceable man- 
ner, and without the employment of force." ' 

A few days after the departure of Messrs. Biddle and 
Prevost for the Pacific, on this mission, Mr. Bagot, the 

•See President Monroe's message to Congress of April 15, 1822, and 
the accompanying documents. 



132 OREGON 

British plenipotentiary at Washington, addressed to Mr. J. 
Q. Adams, the American secretary of State, some inquiries 
respecting the destination of the Ontario, and the objects 
of her voyage; and having been informed on these points, 
he remonstrated against the intended occupation of the 
post at the mouth of the Columbia, on the grounds "that 
the place had not been captured during the late war, but 
that the Americans had retired from it, under an agreement 
with the North-West Company, which had purchased their 
effects, and had since retained peaceable possession of the 
coast" ; and that "the territory itself was early taken posses- 
sion of in his majesty's name, and had since been consid- 
ered as forming a part of his majesty's dominions " ; under 
which circumstances, no claim for the restitution of the 
post could be founded on the first article of the treaty of 
Ghent. At what precise time this possession was taken, or 
on what grounds the territory was considered as part of the 
British dominions, the minister did not attempt to show. 

Mr. Bagot at the same time communicated the circum- 
stances to his government, and they became the subject of 
discussion between Lord Castlereagh, the British secretary 
for foreign affairs, and Mr. Rush, the American plenipo- 
tentiary at London. Lord Castlereagh proposed that the 
question respecting the claim to the post on the Columbia 
should be referred to commissioners, as many disputed 
points had been, agreeably to the treaty of Ghent; to which 
Mr. Rush objected, for the simple reasons — that the spot 
was in the possession of the Americans before the war; that 
it fell, by belligerent capture, into the hands of the British 
during the war; and that, " under a treaty which stipulated 
the mutual restitution of all places reduced by the arms of 
either party, the right of the United States to immediate 
and full possession could not be impugned." The British 
secretary, upon this, admitted the right of the Americans 



OREGON 133 

to be reinstated, and to be the party in possession, while 
treating on the title; though he regretted that the govern- 
ment of the United States should have employed means to 
obtain restitution which might lead to difficulties. Mr. 
Rush had no apprehensions of that kind ; and it was finally 
agreed that the post should be restored to the Americans, 
and that the question of the title to the territory should be 
discussed in the negotiation as to limits and other matters, 
which was soon to be commenced. Lord Bathurst, the 
British secretary for the Colonies, accordingly sent to the 
agents of the North-West Company at the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia a despatch, directing them to afford due facilities for 
the reoccupation of the post at that point by the Americans; 
and an order to the same effect was also sent from the 
admiralty to the commander of the British naval forces in 
the Pacific. 

The Ontario passed around Cape Horn into the Pacific, 
and arrived, in February, r8i8, at Valparaiso, where it was 
agreed between the commissioners that Captain Biddle 
should proceed to the Columbia, and receive possession of 
Astoria for the United States, Mr. Prevost remaining in 
Chile for the purpose of transacting some business with the 
government of that country, which had also been intrusted 
to him. Captain Biddle accordingly sailed to the Colum- 
bia, and, on the 9th of August, he took temporary posses- 
sion of the country on that river, in the name of the United 
States, after which he returned to the South Pacific. 

In the mean time Commodore Bowles, the commander 
of the British naval forces in the South Sea, received at 
Rio de Janeiro the order from the Admiralty for the sur- 
render of the post on the Columbia to the Americans. 
This order he transmitted to Captain Sheriff, the senior 
officer of the ships in the Pacific, who, meeting Mr. Prevost 
at Valparaiso, informed him of the contents of the order, 



134 OREGON 

and offered him a passage to the Columbia, for the purpose 
of completing the business, as it certainly could not have 
been done by Captain Biddle, This offer was accepted by 
the American commissioner, who proceeded, in the British 
frigate Blossom, to the Columbia, and entered that river in 
the beginning of October; and Mr. Keith, the superintend- 
ing partner of the North-West Company, at Fort George, or 
Astoria, having also received the order, from the colonial 
department at London, for the surrender of the place, the 
affair was soon despatched.* On the 6th of the month, 
Captain Hickey and Mr. Keith, as joint commissioners on 

' President Monroe's message to Congress on April 17, 1822, accom- 
panied by Mr. Prevost's letter, dated Monterey, November 11, 1818. 
The two papers above mentioned are of so much importance that they 
are here given at length. 

The act of delivery presented by the British commissioners is as 
follows : 

" In obedience to the commands of his Royal Highness the Prince Re- 
gent, signified in a dispatch from the right honorable the Earl Bathurst, 
addressed to the partners or agents of the North- West Company, bear- 
ing date the 27th of January, 1818, and in obedience to a subsequent 
order, dated the 26th of July, from W. H. Sheriff, Esq., captain of his 
Majesty's ship Andromache, we, the undersigned, do, in conformity to 
the first article of the treaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the 
United States, through its agent, J. B. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of 
Fort George, on the Columbia river. Given under our hands, in tripli- 
cate, at Fort George (Columbia river), this 6th day of October, 1818. 
" F. Hickey, Captain of his Majesty's ship Blossom. 
"J. Keith, of the North-West Company." 

The act of acceptance on the part of the American commissioner is in 
these words : 

" I do hereby acknowledge to have this day received, in behalf of the 
government of the United States, the possession of the settlement desig- 
nated above, in conformity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent. 
Given under my hand, in triplicate, at Fort George (Columbia River), 
this 6th of October, 1818. 

"J. B. Prevost, Agent for the United States." 



OREGON 135 

the part of Great Britain, presented to Mr, Prevost a paper 
declaring that, in obedience to the commands of the Prince 
Regent, as signified in Lord Bathurst's despatch of the 27th 
of January previous, and in conformity to the first article 
of the treaty of Ghent, they restored to the government of 
the United States, through its agent, Mr. Prevost, the settle- 
ment of Fort George, on the Columbia river; and Mr. 
Prevost, in return, gave another paper, setting forth the 
fact of his acceptance of the settlement for his government, 
agreeably to the above mentioned treaty. The British flag 
was then formally lowered, and that of the United States, 
having been hoisted in its stead over the fort, was saluted 
by the Blossom.^ 

In explanation of the above quotation from Green- 
how^, the following is taken from the writings of Dr. 
Richard Rush, our minister to London; 

February ist, 1818. — Had an interview with Lord Castle- 
reagh. ... A despatch from Mr. Bagot, he said, had 
informed the British government that the United States 
were about to take possession of that post, by sending out 
an armed ship; and he had to express the regret felt at this 
measure. It was to have been wished, he remarked, that 
before the ship sailed, notice had been given to his Majesty's 
minister in Washington of her destination, Great Britain 
having a claim of dominion over that territory. He pro- 
ceeded to inform me, that Mr. Bagot had sent in a remon- 
strance upon the occasion; to which, at the last dates, no 
answer had been received. He closed by saying that it was 
the desire of his government to submit a proposal that the 
question of title to this territory should, as in the other two 
cases, go before commissioners, and be governed in all 
' Greenhow, pp. 306-310. 



136 OREGON 

other respects by the precedent of the treaty of Ghent; an- 
nexing to it a third supplemental article as the groundwork 
of contingent arbitration before some friendly sovereign. 

To his proposals and remarks I made such replies as they 
seemed to call for; and first as to the post on the Columbia. 
Nothing, I told him, could exceed the concern I felt at 
our act being viewed in the light presented by him, and 
nothing could have been less expected. The grounds 
upon which England claimed dominion were unknown to 
me; but granting that she had a claim, was the lawfulness 
of the step taken by the United States, to be questioned ? 
That the post was in their possession before the war of 181 2, 
was admitted ; and also, that it had fallen by capture into 
the hands of Britain during the war. How then, under a 
treaty of peace, the first article of which stipulated the 
mutual restitution of all places reduced by the arms of 
either party, was our right to restitution to be impeached? 
I mentioned the cases of Nootka Sound and Falkland 
Islands. In both these, Great Britain, under circumstances 
far less strong, had asserted the principle of which we now 
claimed the benefit. 

His Lordship admitted our right to restitution, and to be 
the party in possession, while negotiations for the title were 
going on. But the manner of obtaining it, he said, was to 
be lamented, from its possible tendency to interrupt the 
harmony subsisting between the two countries. He sin- 
cerely hoped it would not have that effect, and added, that 
to forestall all risk by precautions within his power, he had 
addressed a note to the lords of the admiralty, and one to 
Lord Bathurst as charged with colonial affairs, desiring 
that prompt orders might be issued for preventing all hostile 
collision, either at the post, or with British ships in the 
vicinity. He took from his files copies of these notes and 
read them to me. 



OREGON 137 

I said that it was scarcely to be expected that I could yet 
have received official information respecting the measure, 
and although, in fact, none had reached me, I was entirely 
confident that it had originated in no unfriendly feeling. 
Nor was it believed that anything essentially due to Great 
Britain had been omitted. It had so happened, I re- 
marked, that I had some knowledge myself, of the intentions 
of my government at the time the measure was projected, 
which enabled me with less scruple to speak as I did. I 
left Washington, it was true, before the departure of the 
ship; but felt sure there could have been no alteration in 
the amicable views that had suggested her voyage to those 
seas ; and above all, I knew, that the employment of force 
as a means of reinstating ourselves under the treaty had 
nowise been in contemplation. 

These assurances appeared to have the proper influence 
in placing the transaction in its true lights. The post came 
peaceably into our possession, and the case was not subse- 
quently revived as one of complaint.' 

For nearly thirty years the controversy between the 
United States and Great Britain concerning their re- 
spective claims and rights to this northwest territory 
was continued. Our claims to this northwest coast, as 
set forth in 1826, by Mr. Albert Gallatin, our minister 
to Great Britain, were as follows: 

"Mr. Gallatin claimed for the United States the 
possession of the territory west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, between the 42d and the 49th parallels of lati- 
tude, on the grounds of — 

' Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of Londoti, by Richard Rush, 
etc., second edition, Philadelphia, Key & Biddle, 1833, pp. 103 et seq. 



138 OREGON 

" The acquisition of the United States of the titles 
of France through the Louisiana treaty, and the titles 
of Spain through the Florida treaty; 

" The discovery of the mouth of the Columbia, the 
first exploration of the countries through which that 
river flows, and the establishment of the first posts and 
settlements in those countries by American citizens; 

" The virtual recognition of the title of the United 
States by the British government, by the restitution, 
agreeably to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, of 
the post near the mouth of the Columbia, which had 
been taken during the war ; 

"And lastly, upon the ground of contiguity, which 
should give the United States a stronger right to those 
territories than could be advanced by any other power 
— a doctrine always maintained by Great Britain, from 
the period of her earliest attempts at colonization in 
America, as clearly proved by her charters, in which 
the whole breadth of the continent, between certain 
parallels of latitude, was granted to colonies estab- 
lished only at points on the borders of the Atlantic." ' 

' Greenhow, p. 348. 

" If," says Mr. Gallatin, "some trading factories on the shores of 
Hudson's Bay have been considered by Great Britain as giving an ex- 
clusive right of occupancy as far as the Rocky Mountains ; if the infant 
settlements on the more southern Atlantic shores justified a claim thence 
to the South Seas, and which was actually enforced to the Mississippi, — 
that of the millions already in reach of those seas cannot consistently be 
rejected." This argument, it may be added, has since been constantly 
increasing in force. 



OREGON 139 

It should be observed that prior to the Florida treaty 
Messrs. Rush and Gallatin "did not assert that the 
United States had a perfect right to that country, but 
insisted that their claim was at least good against Great 
Britain." Greenhow says : 

They cited, in support of that claim, the fact of the dis- 
covery of the Columbia River, of the first explorations from 
its sources to its mouth, and of the formation of the first 
establishments in the country through which it flows, by 
American citizens. Messrs. Goulburn and Robinson, on 
the other hand, affirmed that former voyages, and prin- 
cipally that of Captain Cook, gave Great Britain the rights 
derived from discovery; and they alluded to purchases 
from the natives south of the Columbia, which they alleged 
to have been made prior to the American Revolution. 
They did not make any formal proposition for a boundary, 
but intimated that the river itself was the most convenient 
which could be adopted; and that they would not agree to 
any which did not give them the harbor at the mouth of 
that river, in common with the United States.' 

In the year 1818 a treaty was made between this 
country and Great Britain, covering several distinct 
points. The third article reads as follows : 

Article III. It is agreed that any country that may be 
claimed by either party on the northwest coast of America, 
westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with its 
harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers 
within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years 
from the date of the signature of the present convention 
' Greenhow, pp. 314, 315. 



I40 OREGON 

to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers; it 
being well understood that this agreement is not to be con- 
strued to the prejudice of any claim which either of the 
high contracting parties may have to any part of said 
country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any 
other Power or State to any part of the said country; the 
only object of the high contracting parties, in that respect, 
being to prevent disputes and differences among themselves.' 

At the same time it was agreed by the second article 
that from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the line between the British possessions and the 
United States should be along the 49th parallel of 
north latitude. This agreement for joint occupancy 
was to hold for ten years. During this period we had 
made the Florida treaty with Spain, which produced a 
great change in our claims to the Oregon country. 
The third article in this treaty reads as follows : 

Article III. The boundary line between the two countries 
west of the Mississippi shall begin on the Gulph of Mex- 
ico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing 
north, along the western bank of that river, to the 32nd 
degree of latitude; thence, by a line due north, to the 
degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo or Nachi- 
toches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio 
Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from 
London and 23 from Washington; then, crossing the said 
Red River, and running thence by a line due north, to the 
river Arkansas ; thence, following the course of the southern 
bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude 42 north; 

' Treaties and Conventions, p. 351, 



OREGON 141 

and thence, by that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea. 
The whole being as laid down in Mellish's map of the 
United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the 
first of January, 1818. But if the source of the Arkansas 
river shall be found to fall north or south of latitude 42, 
then the line shall run from the said source due south or 
north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of 
latitude 42°, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South 
Sea: All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and 
Arkansas rivers, throughout the course thus described, to 
belong to the United States; but the use of the waters, and 
the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of the said 
rivers, Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of said 
boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to 
the respective inhabitants of both nations. 

The two high contracting parties agree to cede and re- 
nounce all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the 
territories described by said line, that is to say: The United 
States hereby cede to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce 
forever, all their rights, claims, and pretentions, to the ter- 
ritories lying west and south of the above-described line; 
and in like manner. His Catholic Majesty cedes to the 
United States all his rights, claims, and pretentions to any 
territories east and north of said line, and for himself, his 
heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said terri- 
tories forever.* 

By this treaty, Spain quitclaimed to the United 
States all her right and title to the territory north of 
42° north latitude. Previous to this treaty, in all our 
contentions with Great Britain, we had insisted that 
our claim to this territory was better than hers, but 

* Treaties and Conventions, pp. 787, 788. 



142 OREGON 

not that our title was perfect. After this treaty, 
our ministers claimed that our title to the Oregon 
country was perfect. 

On the 6th of August, 1827, a treaty was concluded 
with Great Britain by which the plan of joint occu- 
pancy was "indefinitely extended and continued in 
force." This treaty also declared that "it shall be 
competent to either of the contracting parties, in case 
either should think fit, at any time after the expiration 
of the said ten years, that is, after the 20th of October, 
1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the 
other contracting party, to annul and abrogate this 
convention ; and it shall in such case, be accordingly 
entirely annulled and abrogated, after the expiration 
of the said term of notice," In accordance with this 
agreement for a twelve-months' notice, Congress passed 
a joint resolution April 27, 1846, which authorized the 
President to give such notice at his discretion. A pre- 
amble pronounced "this act an incentive to a speedy 
and amicable adjustment between the two govern- 
ments." The notice of abrogation was given by the 
President on the 21st of May. 

The tone of the British government, which had been 
haughty and arbitrary, was now mollified, and Paken- 
ham, the British minister at Washington, "opened a 
soothing correspondence to forestall any action by 
Congress; first offering that the negotiation should 
proceed as though the rejected offer [of 49°] had not 



OREGON 143 

been withdrawn."' Lord Aberdeen, perceiving a 
favorable drift of Congress, submitted an offer. "This 
was a compromise on the 49°, reserving to Great 
Britain the whole of Vancouver's Island, by a line 
running through the Strait of Fuca."* This prop- 
osition was presented to our Secretary of State, 
Mr. Buchanan, by the British minister, Pakenham. 
By it, apparently, official pride on both sides could 
be saved, and a treaty was drawn up in accordance 
therewith. 

President Polk submitted this treaty to the Senate, 
asking their advice. Just here certain circumstances 
should be borne in mind. President Polk had been 
elected on the watch-cry, "Fifty-four forty or fight." 
Should he now recede to the Hne of 49°? Could he do 
it honorably? It will be noticed that the Constitution 
makes it the duty of the President to negotiate treaties 
"by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." 
In the early days, Washington sometimes asked the 
advice of the Senate ; but almost without exception in 
the whole history of the government after his time, 
the President signed the treaty and sent it to the 
Senate for confirmation. In this case, however. Presi- 
dent Polk first asked the advice of the Senate, stating 
to them that the Secretary of State and the British 
minister had agreed to a treaty on the 49th degree of 

^ Schouler's History of the United States, vol. iv., p. 513. 
'^ Ibid., p. 514. 



144 OREGON 

north latitude. If the Senate so advised, he would 
sign it. The Senate did so advise, and it was signed 
by the President. 

Ratifications were exchanged July 17, 1846, and the 
treaty was proclaimed the 5th of August following. 
This treaty settled all boundary lines at that time in 
dispute between us and Great Britain. In substance, 
the treaty provided that the dividing line between the 
British possessions and the United States should be 
continued from the Rocky Mountains "westward along 
the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, to the middle 
of the channel which separates the continent from 
Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly, through 
the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits, 
to the Pacific Ocean." ' 

Subsequently a dispute arose as to which side of the 
island of San Juan was the proper Strait of de Fuca. 
The question was submitted to arbitration and left to 
the decision of the Emperor of Germany. This was 
in the year 1873. Emperor William decided in favor 
of the United States, and the boundary was therefore 
determined as running on the northerly and westerly 
side of the island. 

This brief statement of our negotiations with Great 
Britain and the final result, which established our 
northwestern boundary on latitude 49°, has seemed 
necessary to be given all together for the clearest under- 

* Treaties and Conventions, pp. 375, 376. 



OREGON 145 

standing of the subject. Let us now retrace our steps 
and consider more in detail our claims to that terri- 
tory, and examine with some care the question of the 
western limits of the Louisiana province. 

The grounds of our claim to the Oregon country, as 
presented by Mr. Rush in 1824 and by Mr. Gallatin 
in 1826, were as follows: Mr. Rush claimed for the 
United States "in their own right, and as their abso- 
lute and exclusive sovereignty and dominion, the 
whole of the country west of the Rocky Mountains 
from the 42d to at least as far up as the 51st degree of 
north latitude. ' ' He further said that, ' ' in the opinion 
of my government, the title of the United States to 
the whole of that coast, from the latitude 42° to as far 
north as 60° was superior to that of Great Britain, or 
any other power: first, by the proper claim of the 
United States through discovery and settlement ; and 
secondly, as now standing in the place of Spain, and 
holding in their hands her title." 

It will be observed that even in 1824 Mr. Rush did 
not base our claim on the Louisiana Purchase. 

In support of his claims to "exclusive possession 
and sovereignty ... at least as far north as the 
51st degree of latitude," which was supposed to repre- 
sent the northern limit of the waters of the Columbia, 
he cited the facts of: 

I. "The first discovery of the Columbia by Captain 
Gray " ; 



146 OREGON 

2. "The first exploration of that river from its 
sources to the sea by Lewis and Clark " ; 

3. "The first settlement on its banks by the Pacific 
Fur Company ... a settlement which was re- 
duced by the arms of the British during the late war, 
but was formally surrendered up to the United States 
at the return of peace;" and 

4. "The transfer by Spain to the United States of all 
her titles to those territories, founded upon the well- 
known discoveries of her navigators." 

He insisted, in obedience to direct instructions from 
his government, "that no part of the American conti- 
nent was thenceforth to be open to colonization from 
Europe." Again he says: 

The claims of the United States above the 42d parallel 
as high up as 60 degrees — claims as well in their own right 
as by succession to the title of Spain — would thenceforth 
necessarily preclude other nations from forming colonial 
establishments upon any part of the American continent.^ 

Early in 1846, and just before the final settlement 
between the United States and Great Britain of the 
northern boundary of Oregon, there appeared in Lon- 
don an octavo volume of 391 pages, entitled The Oregon 
Question Examined in Respect to Facts, and the Law of 
Nations, prepared with great care and ability by a 

* Protocol of the twelfth conference between the plenipotentiaries, 
held June 26, 1824. Among the documents annexed to President 
Adams's message to Congress, January 3, 1826. 



OREGON 147 

distinguished Englishman, the "Professor of Political 
Economy in the University of Oxford, and Advocate 
in Doctors Commons," Travers Twiss, D.C.L., F.R.S. 
This is a work of much ability, written with no little 
shrewdness, and designed to answer and neutralize the 
influence of Mr. Greenhow's book, which presented 
so strongly the claims of the United States. 
Dr. Twiss affirms thus: 

The history of these negotiations shows that on each occa- 
sion the United States have increased their claims and re- 
duced their concessions, while Great Britain has not only 
not increased her claims, but on the contrary has advanced 
in her concessions/ 

John Dunn, also, a former Hudson's Bay man, says 
in his preface : 

Up to 1 814, they [the Americans] never claimed more 
than the right to joint occupancy; that after the Florida 
treaty they took a bolder tone, and claimed exclusive right; 
that in 1827, they never ventured to claim beyond the 49th 
degree. But now they take a bolder tone still; and on the 
gambling principle of "all or nothing" claim up to the 
Russian frontier.^ 

Is it consistent with the uniform practice of the 
government of Great Britain "not to increase her 
claims, but on the contrary to advance in her conces- 
sions," when she feels assured that she has a good 

' Travers Twiss, p. 368. 

* John Dunn's History of the Oregon Territory, London, 1844, p. v. 



148 OREGON 

claim? Indeed, it hardly seems possible but that Dr. 
Twiss and Mr. Dunn must have been conscious that 
their very statements would naturally suggest to the 
unprejudiced mind that the grounds of England's 
claim could hardly have been tenable, else she would 
not have "advanced her concessions." 

The arguments for our exclusive jurisdiction, as put 
forth in 1826, may be briefly summarized as follows: 

1. The acquisition by the United States of the titles 
of France through the Louisiana treaty, and the titles 
of Spain through the Florida treaty ; 

2. The discovery of the mouth of the Columbia; 

3. The first exploration of the country through 
which that river flows ; 

4. The establishment of the first posts and settle- 
ments in those countries by American citizens; 

5. The virtual recognition of the title of the United 
States by the British government, in the restitution, 
agreeably to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, 
of the port near the mouth of the Columbia, which 
had been taken during the war; 

6. And lastly, upon the ground of contiguity, which 
should give the United States a stronger right to those 
territories than could be advanced by any other power.' 

Great Britain refused to settle the question, rejected 
the proposition of compromising on the line of latitude 
49°, and finally the convention of joint occupancy was 
* Greenhow, pp. 347, 348. 



OREGON 149 

renewed indefinitely, with the agreement of one year's 
notice by either party for the abrogation or termina- 
tion of the treaty. This convention was signed August 
6, 1827. The agreement held until 1846, when a treaty 
was negotiated by James Buchanan, Secretary of State 
under President Polk, and Richard Pakenham, the 
British minister, fixing the boundary between that 
part of the country which should hereafter belong to 
the United States and the British Provinces, as the 
49th degree of latitude from the Rocky Mountains 
"to the middle of the channel which separates the con- 
tinent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly 
through the middle of said channel, and of Fuca's 
straits, to the Pacific Ocean." ' 

It may be observed that in pressing our claims to 
Oregon upon the British government, no one ground 
was exclusively relied on, but rather an aggregation 
of claims was presented and insisted on. Which of 
these grounds should be considered the strongest 
might not be of much import, were it not for the 
efforts of some writers, taking perhaps a partial view, 
to exaggerate one of them to the exclusion of the 
others. 

Unfortunately for accurate students of history, some 
prominent persons have endeavored to confine our 
claims to this territory to the right derived from our 
purchase of Louisiana from the French in 1803. As a 

' See United States Treaties and Conventions, 1871, pp. 375, 376. 



I50 OREGON 

matter of fact, this is the weakest ground of them all. 
This position was taken in the report on the census of 
1870 by General Francis A. Walker. We are under 
great obligations to General Walker for much valuable 
information, in the volume on Population of the ninth 
census, relating to the history of the various sections 
of our territory.' This information he subsequently 
expanded and published in his valuable Statistical 
Atlas of the United States, Part II. of which consists 
of "Memoirs and Discussions." This Part II. com- 
prises four chapters, as follows: 1st, the "Political 
Divisions of the United States," with a map by S. W. 
Stocking; 2d, "The Minor Political Divisions of the 
United States," by S. A. Galpin; 3d, "The Progress 
of the Nation," by General Walker; and 4th, "Popu- 
lation," by E. B. Elliott. 

This book probably gives more practical and valu- 
able information in a condensed form, in relation to 
the territorial accessions, than can be obtained else- 
where. It is therefore more to be regretted that these 
gentlemen. Walker and Stocking, should have fallen 
into so great an error as to represent Oregon on their 
map as part of Louisiana. Following their lead, many 
writers of school histories have copied this valuable 
map, and of course have copied the error regarding 
Oregon. But there is no foundation for the opinion 

' Volume on Populatio7is, Ninth Census, pp. 573-587, and map in 
connection. 



OREGON 151 

that Oregon ever belonged to France, and could thus 
have been ceded to us as a part of Louisiana. 

1. France never claimed beyond the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

In 1712, King Louis XIV. granted to Antoine 
Crozat the exclusive trade of the territory called 
Louisiana, and this grant gives the earliest exposition 
of the limits of that region. In the grant the boun- 
daries of the territory are described thus : 

bounded by New Mexico, and by those of the 
English in Carolina. The river St. Louis, formerly called 
the Mississippi, from the seashore to the Illinois, together 
with the rivers St. Philip, formerly called the Missouries 
River, and the Saint Jerome, formerly called the Wabash 
[the Ohio] with all the countries, territories, lakes in the 
land, and the rivers emptying directly or indirectly into that 
part of the river St. Louis. 

This could by no possible construction include any- 
thing beyond the headwaters of the Missouri. France 
never afterward claimed for herself beyond the Rocky 
Mountains.' 

2. Spain always claimed that Louisiana was limited 
by the Rocky Mountains. During all our negotiations 
with Spain in relation to Florida, which included a 
full discussion of our western boundaries, Spain never 

' See State Papers, 1817-1818, p. 437. Our Secretary of State, John 
Quincy Adams, says : ' ' The only boundaries ever acknowledged by France 
before this cession to Spain in 1762, were those made out in the grant 
from Louis XIV. to Crozat." 



152 OREGON 

admitted for a moment that Louisiana extended west 
of the mountains. 

3. Neither Great Britain nor any British writers up- 
on the subject ever allowed the claim that Louisiana 
extended west of the Rocky Mountains. 

4. Until after the treaty of Florida in 18 19, 
our government never claimed that our title was 
perfect. 

On the nth of July, 1803, President Jefferson wrote 
to General Gates in regard to Louisiana: "The terri- 
tory acquired, as it includes all the waters of the Mis- 
souri and Mississippi, has more than doubled the area 
of the United States." This statement would imply 
that it did not go beyond the Rocky Mountains. On 
the 1 2th of August the same year, in a letter to Mr. 
Breckenridge, he said : "The boundaries, which I deem 
not admitting of question, are the high lands on the 
western side of the Mississippi, enclosing all its waters, 
including the Missouri of course." 

Later, in a letter to Mellish the geographer, dated 
December 31, 1816, Mr. Jefferson said: 

"The western boundary of Louisiana is, rightfully, 
the Rio Bravo (in its main stream), from its mouth to 
its source, and thence along the highlands and moun- 
tains dividing the waters of the Mississippi from those 
of the Pacific." 

Marbois, in his History of Louisiana, makes these 
statements: 



OREGON 153 

The shores of the Western Ocean were certainly not 
included in the cession. . . . The first article of the 
treaty of cession to the United States, meant to convey 
nothing beyond them [the Rocky Mountains]. 

Greenhow, in his History of California and Oregon, 
commenting on the boundaries of the Louisiana Pur- 
chase, says: 

We are forced to regard the boundaries indicated by 
nature — namely, the highlands separating the waters of the 
Mississippi from those flowing into the Pacific or the Cali- 
fornia Gulf — as the true western boundary of the Louisiana 
ceded by France to Spain in 1762, retroceded to France in 
1800, and transferred to the United States by France in 
1803. 

Talleyrand, the French minister, wrote to Gavine, 
August 31, 1804, thus: 

Whatever boundary may be agreed upon between Spain 
and the United States, the line will necessarily be so far 
removed from the western coast of America as to relieve 
the court of Madrid from anxiety on that score. 

Messrs. Gallatin and Rush, in 1818, in reporting to 
their government, stated: "We did not assert that 
the United States had a perfect right to that country, 
but insisted that their claim was at least good against 
Great Britain." * 

But after our purchase of Florida and the settlement 

' See Travers Twiss, p. 202. 



154 OREGON 

of the boundary between our territory and the Spanish 
provinces as latitude 42° north, that is, when we had 
purchased Florida, given up Texas to Spain, and she 
had ceded her rights of Oregon to us, then we set 
up a complete claim to the Oregon country. 
In 1845, ^^- Buchanan asserted: 

Our own American tide to the extent of this valley of the 
Columbia, resting as it does on discovery, exploration and 
possession — a possession acknowledged by a most solemn 
act by Great Britain herself, is a sufficient assurance against 
all mankind; whilst our superadded title derived from 
Spain extends our exclusive rights over the whole territory 
in dispute against Great Britain.* 

This position, maintained by Secretary Buchanan in 
his negotiations with the British government in 1845, 
had been uniformly held by our government from the 
time of the treaty of Florida. 

"In 1824, Mr. Rush commenced his negotiations 
by claiming for the United States 'in their own right, 
and as their absolute and exclusive sovereignty and 
dominion, the whole of the country west of the Rocky 
Mountains, from the 42nd to at least as far up as the 
51st degree of north latitude.' He further said that, 
'in the opinion of my government, the title of the 
United States to the whole of that coast, from latitude 
42° to as far north as 60°, was superior to that of Britain 
or any other power : 

' Letter of Mr. Buchanan, July 12, 1845. 



OREGON 155 

" 'First, through the proper claim of the United 
States by discovery and settlement ; and 

" 'Secondly, as now standing in the place of Spain, 
and holding in their hands her title.' " ' 

Dr. Rush, in 1824, wrote: 

I reminded the British plenipotentiaries that, by the third 
article of the treaty of Washington, of February the 22d, 
1819, between the United States and Spain, the boundary 
line between the two countries was fixed, in part, along the 
southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in parallel 42° 
north, and thence by that parallel of latitude to the South 
Sea; and that Spain had also renounced to the United States 
by the same article, all her rights north of that parallel. 
I then made known, at this and other conferences, — for, 
from the extent of the subject, I was unable even to open 
it all at one conference — what I understood to be the nature 
of the title of the United States to the whole of the country 
north of the parallel stated. I said, that, apart from all the 
right as thus acquired from Spain, which, however, was 
regarded by my Government as surpassing the right of all 
other European powers, on that coast, the United States 
claimed, in their own right, and as their absolute and 
exclusive sovereignty and dominion, the whole of the 
country west of the Rocky Mountains, from the 42nd to at 
least as far up as the 51st degree of North latitude. 

This claim they rested upon their first discovery of the 
river Columbia, followed up by an effective settlement at 
its mouth, a settlement which was reduced by the arms of 
Britain during the late war, but formally surrendered up to 
the United States at the return of peace. Their right by 
first discovery they deemed peculiarly strong, having been 

' Travers Twiss, p. 269. 



156 OREGON 

made not only from the sea by Captain Gray, but also from 
the interior by Lewis and Clarke, who first discovered its 
sources, and explored its whole inland course to the Pacific 
ocean. It had been ascertained that the Columbia ex- 
tended, by the river Muttnomah, to as low as 42° North; 
and by Clarke's river, to a point as high up as 51°, if not 
beyond that point; and to this entire range of country, 
contiguous to the original dominion of the United States, 
and made a part of it by the almost intermingling waters of 
each, the United States, I said, considered their title as 
established by all the principles that had ever been applied 
on this subject by the powers of Europe, to settlements in 
the American hemisphere. I asserted, that a nation, dis- 
covering a country, by entering the mouth of its principal 
river at the sea coast, must necessarily be allowed to claim 
and hold, as great an extent of the interior country, as was 
described by the course of such principal river, and its 
tributary streams; and that the claim, to this extent, be- 
came doubly strong, where, as in the present instance, the 
same river had also been discovered and explored from its 
very mountain springs to the sea. Such a union of titles, 
imparting validity to each other, did not often exist.' 

5. The opinion that Louisiana did not extend be- 
yond the Rocky Mountains has been almost uniformly 
held by the leading men of our government. 

We have mentioned above the view^s of Mr. Rush, 
Mr. Gallatin, Mr. John Quincy Adams, and Mr. Bu- 
chanan, all of whom conducted at different times 
negotiations with Great Britain upon this subject. 
Mr. Jefferson, in a letter written in August, 1803, im- 

' Dr. Rush's Residence at the Court of London, vol. ii,, pp. 251-253. 



OREGON 157 

mediately after the ratification of the treaty of pur- 
chase of Louisiana, said : 

The boundaries [of Louisiana] which I deem not admit- 
ting question, are the high lands on the western side of the 
Mississippi, inclosing all its waters, [the Missouri of course,] 
and terminating in a line drawn from the northwest point 
of the Lake of the Woods to the nearest source of the 
Mississippi. 

John J. Anderson, Ph.D., the author of a series of 
school histories of the United States, in reviewing this 
subject, uses the following language : 

In March, 1844, Mr. V. Brown, from the "Committee on 
the Territories" made a report to Congress, covering twenty- 
four closely printed pages, in which this whole question is 
thoroughly discussed. In all this long report, there is not 
the first attempt to prove that our right to Oregon came to 
us through the Louisiana Purchase. 

Mr. Clay said not a word of the Louisiana Purchase; and 
Mr. Gallatin, in his able and exhaustive discussion of the 
subject, as manifested in his letters, and in his celebrated 
pamphlet of seventy-five pages, published in. 1846, makes 
but the briefest allusion to the Louisiana Purchase. The 
whole bent of his argument is to show that our title to 
Oregon came to us through discoveries, exploration, and 
occupation. Mr. Cushing's report, made to Congress in 
January, 1839; the books written from the English stand- 
point, by the English authors, Thomas Falconer, Travers 
Twiss, and John Dunn, besides numerous pamphlets, an 
able article in the North American Review for 1845, p. 214, 



158 OREGON 

as well as President's messages, and reports of debates in 
Congress, — all reviewing and discussing the Oregon ques- 
tion — have been read by me with care; but nowhere have 
I seen any attempt whatever to prove that any part of 
the region west of the Rocky Mountains ever belonged to 
France, or that France ever made any pretense of convey- 
ing it to the United States, The region was no part of the 
Louisiana Purchase.' 

In 1839, Caleb Gushing, from the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, submitted to Congress an exhaustive 
report review^ing our grounds for claiming Oregon, in 
which he expresses substantially the views given above. 
In this report, Mr. Cushing says: 

The United States, then, claim title to the exclusive 
dominion, as against any foreign power, of the country, 
extending east and west of the Rocky Mountains to the 
Pacific Ocean, and north and south from the limits of the 
Mexican Republic in latitude 42 north, to those of Russia 
in latitude 54 degrees and 40 minutes north, with an offer 
to relinquish to Great Britain all north of latitude 49. 
They claim this on three grounds: i, in their own right; 
2. as the successor of France; and 3. of Spain. 

He then elaborates the first and third points, and 
slides over the second. He shows that after our pur- 
chase of Louisiana, Spain was the only power that could 
contest our claim to the Pacific territory. He says: 

The Louisiana treaty cedes to the United States the 
colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent it 

^ From a pamphlet by Mr. Anderson, entitled Did the Louisiana 
Purchase Extend to the Pacific Ocean ? 1881, p. 3, 



OREGON 159 

had in the hands of Spain in 1800, and that it had when 
previously possessed by France, with all its rights and ap- 
purtenances. 

This description is, to be sure, sufficiently loose. But 
Napoleon having made the cession at the moment of going 
to war with Great Britain, and having made it to prevent 
the country from falling into the hands of the latter, and 
having ceded it to the United States out of friendly feel- 
ings toward us, and in order to augment our power as 
against that of Britain; being actuated by those motives, he, 
of course, chose to execute a quit claim rather than a war- 
ranty of boundaries; and the United States, placed in the 
position of acquiring, at a cheap price, a territory alm.ost 
invaluable to her, had no disposition to be hyper-critical 
on this point, and thus hazard the loss of such a valuable 
contingency. And though much controversy sprang up in 
regard to the southwestern or southeastern limits of Louisi- 
ana, yet all this resolved itself at length into a question 
with Spain, as did also the doubts as to the western limits 
of Louisiana.* 

In an article of great value, exhibiting not only ex- 
tensive and careful reading upon the subject, but rare 
good judgment and statesmanlike views, in the North 
Americmi Review for January, 1840, Mr. Gushing ex- 
presses his opinion that "this event [the purchase of 
Louisiana] gave us great, though undefined rights on 
the side of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific." " 

These statements show clearly that there was no 

* Document No. loi. House of Representatives, 25th Congress, Third 
Session, p. 6. 

' North American Review, vol. 1., p. 95. 



i6o OREGON 

doubt in the mind of Mr. Gushing in reference to the 
western boundaries of Louisiana, and that, in his judg- 
ment, no European government except Spain could 
show any claim to this country. When, therefore, we 
had purchased her right, our claim to Oregon, through- 
out its widest extent, was absolutely indisputable. 

We conclude, therefore, that our claim to Oregon 
consisted first in our own right, coming from discov- 
ery, exploration, and contiguity; secondly, from pur- 
chase of whatever right France had to the province of 
Louisiana; and thirdly, from our succeeding to the 
right which Spain might have set up to all that coast 
south of latitude 42°. 

We conclude, also, that the right of Spain was of 
far more importance than that of France, and that if 
either should be set up as permanent, Spain's claim 
would surely take precedence. 

By the treaty of 1846, the vexed question, which had 
been for so many years a source of contention between 
the United States and Great Britain, was settled. 
England relinquished whatever claim she may have 
had to the country south of latitude 49°, and we re- 
linquished to her our claims to the territory west of the 
Rocky Mountains, between 49° and 54° 40'. 

Had it not been for the missionary operations among 
the Indians in Oregon, however, it is likely that we 
might never have secured permanently any of the Ore- 
gon territory, or, if any, only that which lies south of 



OREGON i6i 

the Columbia River. The story of the missionary 
movements among the Indians is of exceeding interest. 

Four Indians from beyond the Rocky Mountains 
came to St. Louis in 1832, and interviewed General 
William Clark, then general agent of Indian affairs 
beyond the Mississippi. They asked him for the Bible 
and missionaries. In response to this request, several 
Christian denominations within a very few years sent 
missionaries to the Oregon country to work among the 
Indians. 

Among them was Marcus Whitman, M.D.,' from 
the state of New York. He located on the Walla 
Walla River about six miles from the present city of 
Walla Walla in Washington. In the winter of 1842-43, 
Dr. Whitman made his famous overland journey from 
Oregon to Washington, D. C, to confer with the 
national government upon the interests of the Oregon 
country, and the next summer he helped to pilot a 
large caravan of pioneer settlers from our western 
frontier to Oregon. This large company included 
about eight hundred men, women, and children. On 
their arrival, the Americans had a clear majority over 
the British settlers, and they set in operation a pro- 
visional government. This government, with George 
Abernethy as governor, was the only government of 

' Dr. Whitman was brutally murdered by the Indians in 1847. A full 
account of his life may be found in the author's book, entitled, Marcus 
Whitman and the Early Days of Oregon. 



i62 OREGON 

that entire country until the territory was organized 
by Act of Congress and General Joseph Lane was ap- 
pointed governor by President Polk. General Lane 
entered upon his duties March 3, 1849. 

This great territory, formerly called the Oregon 
country, now embraces the three states of Idaho, Ore- 
gon, and Washington, with a considerable portion of 
Montana and Wyoming, altogether amounting to more 
than three hundred thousand square miles. It con- 
tains a population of more than one million. This is 
proportionately a small population, to be sure, aver- 
aging only three and a fraction per square mile, but the 
country is fertile, the climate salubrious, the produc- 
tions of great value, and the population is increasing 
with great rapidity. 

In a certain sense, Puget Sound may be considered 
as commercially the center of the world. The com- 
merce between Europe and America on the one hand, 
and eastern Asia and Australia on the other, is rapidly 
increasing. Formerly this commerce was carried on 
by sailing vessels which doubled the Cape of Good 
Hope, or Cape Horn. The ship canal connecting the 
Mediterranean with the Red Sea now shortens this 
route. But in the future the commerce of Europe 
and America with the Orient will be largely across the 
Pacific from this country. Even to-day the tea which 
comes from China and Japan, not only for America, 
but for Europe as well, is brought directly across the 



OREGON 163 

Pacific to Puget Sound, and thence by the Canadian 
Pacific Railway. By this route New York City is but 
twenty days from Yokohama. 

Much of the commerce of America with eastern Asia 
has heretofore been through the port of San Francisco, 
but the route from New York to Yokohama or Pekin 
via Puget Sound is eight hundred miles shorter than 
by the way of San Francisco. If a carrier pigeon can 
be supposed to fly by the shortest line from Boston to 
Yokohama, that line would be over Montreal, James's 
Bay, near the middle of Hudson's Bay, and over the 
Arctic Ocean, passing a considerable distance north of 
Bering's Strait. The nearer any ship's path comes to 
that route the shorter it will be. It therefore seems 
more than probable that in the future the greater part 
of the commerce between the Occident and the Orient 
will pass through Puget Sound. 



CHAPTER VIII 

ALASKA 

PREVIOUS to 1867, Russia held the northwestern 
corner of our continent, then generally termed 
Russian America. Included within this extensive 
province were a large number of islands in the Pacific, 
most of them bearing the name of the Aleutian Archi- 
pelago. The mainland of the province lay principally 
within twenty-five degrees of longitude and included 
all the territory of North America on the Pacific coast 
north of 54° 40', while the islands stretched out towards 
the west as far as the Isle of Attoo, which lies in longi- 
tude 172° 26' east. 

This country was discovered in 1741 by a Russian 
explorer, Captain Vitus Bering. Captain Bering was 
a native of Denmark, who entered the Russian navy 
at an early age, and became noted in a war against the 
Swedes. In 1725, he was placed in command of a 
scientific expedition to the Sea of Kamtchatka. On 
this voyage he ascertained that Asia was not joined to 
America, but separated by the strait which has ever 
since borne his name. The Russian government in 
1732 appointed him Captain-Commander, and in 1741 

164 



ALASKA 165 

he set out on a second voyage of discovery. It was at 
this time that he sailed along the northwestern coast 
of the American continent. On July i8th of that 
year, "he sighted a rocky range of coast, behind which 
towered lofty mountains, their summits white with 
perpetual snows." This was his first glimpse of what 
was afterwards known as Russian America. As a re- 
sult of his voyage, the country was made known to 
Russia and that government immediately proceeded 
to take possession of it. Both Captain Bering and his 
crew were disabled by sickness, and on their return to 
Kamtchatka they were wrecked on the island of 
Avatcha, which has ever since been called Bering's 
Island. The captain died upon this island December 
19, 1741. 

As early as 1772, many Russian trading companies 
were engaged along this coast, and in 1776 Captain 
Cook, the English navigator, visited the region and re- 
ported the existence of otters in great numbers. This 
report stimulated Russian enterprise. The first per- 
manent settlement was made in 1784, on Kadiak 
Island, and in 1790 the Russian government appointed 
a governor over the territory. 

Just before 1800, a company was chartered, called 
the Russian American Company, and to it was granted 
the entire control of Russian interests in North America 
for twenty years. Sitka was made a principal trading 
post, and missions of the Greek Church were established 



i66 ALASKA 

along the coast. The charter of this company was re- 
newed in 1820, and again in 1844. 

This large territory was ceded by Russia to the 
United States in 1867, in exchange for $7,200,000 in 
gold. When the proposed treaty ceding Alaska to our 
government was sent to the Senate for ratification, it 
is safe to say that the entire American people were 
greatly surprised. The question had not been agi- 
tated ; and there had been no call for the annexation 
of the territory. The plan seemed to have originated 
with the administration at Washington. Much specu- 
lation has arisen as to why the proposition was made, 
and what were the conditions that brought about the 
movement. 

Certain circumstances point to the following as the 
true explanation of the matter, but at present it does 
not seem possible to present any positive proof of its 
correctness. Many intelligent persons have, however, 
believed it to be true. It will be remembered that 
about the year 1864 a Russian fleet of war vessels 
hovered round New York Harbor and Long Island 
Sound, and later this fleet returned to Russian waters. 
It had performed no service and the general opinion 
was that, being unemployed, it was cruising in Ameri- 
can waters simply on a friendly visit, with no political 
significance. Subsequently, however, circumstances 
seemed to indicate a definite purpose and suggested 
a possible explanation of the transaction. 



ALASKA 167 

It is asserted that when our government became 
aware that France and Great Britain were seriously 
considering the proposition of recognizing the Southern 
Confederacy, the administration arranged with the 
Russian government that they should send over this 
fleet to be in readiness to aid us in case European 
complications should make it evident that we needed 
help from Russia. It is quite clear that France was 
ready to acknowledge the independence of the Con- 
federate States and that the British ministry was dis- 
posed to join with France in this act. But just then, 
Queen Victoria — mindful of the cordial and gracious 
reception that the American people had given the 
young Prince of Wales, now King Edward VII., in 
his tour through America a little before the outbreak 
of the Civil War, and having just had an interview 
with our minister, Charles Francis Adams — stepped 
in and positively stated to her cabinet that she would 
never acknowledge the independence of the Confed- 
eracy and thus consent to the breaking up of the 
American Union. This put an end to the threatened 
acknowledgment. In consequence, the Russian fleet 
had no service to perform, and when the war was over, 
returned to Russia. 

There was, however, a bill to pay. This bill 
amounted to $7,200,000. Secretary Seward, who was 
at the head of the State department, saw at once that 
the payment of this bill would be likely to create 



i68 ALASKA 

dissatisfaction and bring some discredit upon the ad- 
ministration. He was aware that Russia did not prize 
highly her American possessions, and possibly would 
not be unwilling to cede them to us. Private nego- 
tiations soon developed the fact that the Russian gov- 
ernment would be willing to part with Alaska. A 
treaty was framed, — making no mention of the fleet 
or payment for it, — simply ceding to the United States 
the province of Russian America on the payment by 
the United States of the sum of $7,200,000 in gold. 
The treaty was signed by the President and ratified by 
the Senate. Thus Alaska became a part of the pos- 
sessions of the United States. 

The name, Alaska, is supposed to be a Russian cor- 
ruption of an Aleutian word, Alakshak, which means 
"continent," or "large country," although it has fre- 
quently been given as an English corruption of Al-ay- 
ek-sa, which has a similar meaning. The territory 
contains nearly six hundred thousand square miles. 
Its purchase was at the time widely ridiculed as 
"Seward's folly." It was called "a waste of money 
on rocks and ice, fit only for a polar-bear garden." 
This country is, however, no longer ridiculed. Its 
seal fisheries are estimated to bring to us $2,500,000 
per annum. This industry is now controlled by the 
North American Commercial Company, and the rents 
for the islands, together with the tax on seal skins, 
bring to our government an annual income of more 



ALASKA 169 

than $300,000. The government has already received 
from this source alone more than the purchase-money 
paid for the entire territory. 

It is interesting to Americans to know that immedi- 
ately at the close of the Civil War, and previous to the 
purchase of Alaska by our government, the Western 
Union Telegraph Company explored the coast of 
Alaska with the intention of running a telegraph line 
from America to Asia across Bering's Strait. The 
success of the Atlantic cable, however, caused this 
project to be abandoned. 

The next year after the country came into the pos- 
session of the United States, our laws relating to cus- 
toms, commerce, and navigation were extended over 
the mainland, the islands, and the waters of Alaska. 
For ten years a military post was maintained at Sitka, 
but at the expiration of that period the troops were 
withdrawn. The citizens residing in the territory held 
a convention in 1881, and appointed a delegate to 
Washington. This was the first united action of the 
white inhabitants. Three years later, a partial terri- 
torial government was established there by Congress, 
with a governor, appointed by the President, an at- 
torney, a marshal, commissioners, and a district court, 
the judges of which are also appointed by the Presi- 
dent. At the same time the laws of Oregon were 
extended over this province. 

The Alaskan seal fisheries, besides bringing to the 



170 ALASKA 

United States a good income, have occasioned inter- 
national complications. In 1886, our government took 
the ground that Bering Sea was not a mare apertum, 
but was a mare clausum, and that, therefore, foreign 
nations were prohibited from seal-fishing therein. In 
that year three Canadian sealers were seized by a 
United States revenue cutter; their captains and 
crews were tried for illegal sealing, convicted, fined, 
and imprisoned. Five others were similarly seized 
and tried in 1887. Two years later, four schooners 
were seized by revenue cutters. This course of pro- 
cedure somewhat strained the peaceful relations be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain. 

In 1 891, negotiations were entered into for the pur- 
pose of settling the whole matter of foreign sealing in 
Bering Sea. The question was submitted by the gov- 
ernments of the United States and Great Britain to a 
tribunal of arbitration, which met in Paris in 1893. 
This tribunal decided adversely to the claims made by 
the United States to sovereignty over the waters of 
Bering Sea and to a property right in the seals beyond 
the three-mile limit. It did not, however, settle the 
question of damages which should be paid by the 
United States for illegal seizure, leaving that to be 
adjusted by further diplomatic negotiation. A treaty 
was finally signed in February, 1896, providing for the 
appointment of a tribunal of two members, a third to 
be called upon in case of disagreement, to adjudicate 



ALASKA 171 

all claims. The British government appointed Judge 
King of Canada, and the United States selected Judge 
William LeBaron Putnam of Portland, Maine, for ar- 
bitrators. On December 22, 1897, this tribunal sub- 
mitted its conclusions to the governments. It awarded 
damages to be paid by the United States to the 
amount of $473,151.26. Of this, $264,188.90 was for 
the principal of claims for vessels, $149,790.36 was 
for the interest on the same, and the remainder was 
for personal claims. 

Disputes continued to arise between the United 
States and Great Britain, the latter acting on behalf of 
the Dominion of Canada; and various questions, in- 
cluding the fur-seal and other fisheries in Alaskan 
waters, were referred to a Joint High Commission ap- 
pointed by the United States, Great Britain, and 
Canada, to negotiate a settlement of these contro- 
versies, which it succeeded in doing. 

Several years ago, gold in large quantities was dis- 
covered in the interior of Alaska, on the mountains 
and in the valley of the upper Yukon. These gold 
fields were in the Klondike region, directly on the 
borders of the Yukon district in British America and 
our territory of Alaska. This new El Dorado soon at- 
tracted thousands of men, both from the United States 
and from Canada. Many millions have been mined, 
and the supply is by no means exhausted, though the 
expectations of many people have not been fulfilled. 



172 ALASKA 

In 1899, it was supposed that we should realize 
$20,000,000 from these mines. Scarcely half that 
sum, however, rewarded the enterprise and industry of 
our citizens who left their homes and subjected them- 
selves to great hardships on the hazardous journey to 
the Klondike region, and to untold difificulties and 
disappointments in the gold fields. 

Since the discovery of gold in the Klondike region, 
some trouble has arisen over the boundary line be- 
tween Alaska and Canada. This line was first deter- 
mined by a treaty between Great Britain and Russia 
in the year 1825. When the United States secured 
possession of Alaska in 1867, whatever rights, in re- 
spect to this territory, had belonged to Russia were 
clearly acquired by the United States. In regard to 
the boundaries, the treaty of 1825 between Great 
Britain and Russia now became a treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States. Whatever terri- 
tory was Russian under the treaty must now belong 
to the United States. The boundary, as fixed by this 
treaty, began at the southern extremity of Prince of 
Wales Island and was to run in a northerly direction 
for a distance of something like five hundred miles, 
along the summits of the mountains, but always keep- 
ing within thirty miles of the coast line. On the one 
hand, it has been contended that this thirty miles 
from the coast line means that distance from the main 
line of the open sea, outside of the archipelago. On 



ALASKA 173 

the other hand, the contention has been that the coast 
line means the salt water line inside of the chain of 
islands. The United States, acting upon this latter 
interpretation, has taken and retained possession of 
the territory up to this line. 

The practical question now, however, is not the lo- 
cation of this line within thirty miles (ten leagues) of 
the coast line, but the location of the boundary line in 
the region of the Lynn Canal, or Channel, because 
here all traffic leaves the water for the overland journey 
to the gold fields. After long-continued negotiations, 
amid many practical difficulties, an agreement was 
finally reached (October, 1899), as follows: 

In the region about the head of the Lynn Canal the 
boundary line shall be provisionally fixed, without prejudice 
to the claims of either party in the permanent adjustment 
of the international boundary, as follows: 

In the region of the Dalton trail, a line beginning at the 
peak west of the Porcupine creek, marked on the Map 
No. 10 of the United States Commission, December 31, 
1895, and on Sheet No. 18 of the British Commission, De- 
cember 31, 1895, with the number 6,500; thence running to 
the Klehini (or Klaheela) river in the direction of the peak 
north of the river marked No. 5,020 on the aforesaid United 
States map and No. 5,025 on the aforesaid British map; 
thence following the high or right bank of the said Klehini 
river to the junction thereof with the Chilkat river, a mile 
and a half, more or less, north of Klukwan: Provided, that 
persons proceeding to or from Porcupine creek shall be freely 
permitted to follow the trail between the said creek and the 
said junction of the rivers into and across the territory on 



174 ALASKA 

the Canadian side of the temporary line wherever the trail 
crosses to such side; and subject to such reasonable regula- 
tions for the protection of the revenue as the Canadian gov- 
ernment may prescribe, to carry with them over such part 
or parts of the trail between the said points as may lie on 
the Canadian side of the temporary line such goods and 
articles as they desire, without being required to pay any 
customs duties on such goods and articles, and from said 
junction to the summit of the peak east of the Chilkat river, 
marked on the aforesaid Map No. lo of the United States 
Commission with the number 5,410, and on the Map No. 17 
of the aforesaid British Commission with the number 5,490. 

On the Dyea and Skagway trails, the summits of the 
Chilkoot and White passes. 

It is understood, as formerly set forth in the communica- 
tion of the Department of State of the United States, that 
the citizens or subjects of either power found by this 
arrangement within the temporary jurisdiction of the other 
shall suffer no diminution of the rights and privileges which 
they now enjoy. 

The government of the United States will at once appoint 
an officer or officers in conjunction with the officer or offi- 
cers to be named by the government of Her Britannic 
Majesty, to mark the temporary line agreed upon by the 
erection of posts, stakes, or other appropriate temporary 
marks. 

This divisional line in the region of the Dalton trail 
is placed twenty-one and a quarter miles above Pyra- 
mid Harbor, which is regarded under the treaty as 
tide-water mark, so that Canadian jurisdiction does 
not reach to any point on the Lynn Canal. No per- 
mission is given for a free port, or for free transporta- 



ALASKA 175 

tion of Canadian goods across American territory, 
except the property of miners. The British sought to 
have the line placed at the town of Klukwan, which is 
at the head of canoe navigation, but instead it was 
placed above at the junction of the Chilkat and the 
Klehini rivers. 

This temporary arrangement will prevent local fric- 
tion until the Joint High Commission can meet and 
satisfactorily determine the position of the boundary 
line between the territory of Alaska and the Do- 
minion of Canada at this point. This will probably 
be done at an early date. 

The climate throughout southern Alaska and the en- 
tire group of the Aleutian Islands is moderate, even in 
winter. As one goes farther north one finds the cli- 
mate growing gradually colder and the land more 
barren. In the Sitka district the mean annual tem- 
perature is a little above 40°, perhaps 43°. In the 
Bristol Bay and the Aleutian district it is about 35°, 
and in the Yukon district 25°, while the Arctic coast 
is extremely cold and perpetually frozen. In the 
southern section, between latitudes 55° and 58°, the 
winters are not so cold as in New York, but are very 
stormy, and the amount of annual rainfall is from sev- 
enty to eighty inches. 

Grain does not ripen in any part of Alaska. Pota- 
toes and the principal vegetables of the North can be 
grown to advantage. Spruce is the universal forest 



176 ALASKA 

tree, but it is so knotty and stunted as to be worthless 
for timber. Yellow cedar grows well in southeastern 
Alaska and is valuable. The population of this terri- 
tory in 1900 was 63,592. Of this number about one 
half are Esquimaux, one quarter white people, and the 
remainder is made up of Mongolians and mixed races. 
The population has doubled in twenty years. The 
principal city is Sitka, in latitude 57° 30'. 

It is difficult to realize the extent of the territory of 
the United States from its eastern extremity to the 
western limits of the islands of the Aleutian archipel- 
ago. Some idea may be gained if we imagine a me- 
ridian drawn through the eastern extremity of Maine. 
Trace this meridian south into the Atlantic Ocean to 
37° 30'' Find the meridian which runs through the 
western extremity of the little island of Attoo in the 
Aleutian archipelago, and carry this meridian south- 
ward in the Pacific Ocean until the same parallel of 
37° 30' is reached. At this point connect these two 
distant meridians by an east and west line across the 
United States. It will strike the Pacific coast at San 
Franciso. Thence continue it westward until it 
reaches the meridian of Attoo. Now find the middle 
point of this line. Surely it will surprise many per- 
sons to learn that its middle point is an all-day's sail 
westward from San Francisco. 



CHAPTER IX 

HAWAII 

AFTER the purchase of Alaska in 1867, no further 
increase of territory was made for more than 
thirty years. This was a longer period without addi- 
tion of territory than occurred at any previous time in 
the history of our government. The original limits 
of the United States were fixed by the treaty of peace 
with Great Britain in 1783. Just twenty years after 
that, the province of Louisiana was purchased from 
France. Then eighteen years passed before the final 
ratification, in 1821, of the treaty which gave us the 
Spanish province of Florida. Twenty-four years 
later, in 1845, Texas joined her fortunes with our re- 
public by annexation. The war with Mexico fol- 
lowed, and, in 1848, by treaty, she ceded to us New 
Mexico and California. Five years after that came 
the Gadsden Purchase, by which Mexico, for a large 
price ($10,000,000), yielded to us the Masilla Valley, 
south of the Gila River. These three additions really 
belong together; they all came from Mexico, and were 
the result of the annexation of Texas. Fourteen years 

177 



178 HAWAII 

after the Gadsden Purchase, or twenty-two years after 
the annexation of Texas, Russia ceded to us her prov- 
ince of Alaska. 

Hitherto, our additions were made from North 
American territory. Now, however, we cross the seas 
in different directions and secure to ourselves island 
possessions. Up to this time we had no territory 
within the torrid zone ; hence we had no tropical pro- 
ductions. We are now to enter that region enclosed 
between the tropics, and are hereafter to secure for our 
nation tropical fruits from our own territory. Is there 
a truth expressed in the words so frequently heard of 
late, — * ' manifest destiny' ' ? Is there a Providence who 
shapes the history of nations? Is it true that while 
"man proposes, God disposes"? 

Almost half a century ago, at the time of the Cri- 
mean War, a series of articles appeared in a New 
England newspaper, discussing the tendencies of the 
civilized world and especially of the nations of Europe. 
In the closing article the writer ventured on some pre- 
dictions concerning the tendencies of the times. He 
wrote as follows : 

Poorly as the world must think of such a mode of ac- 
quisition on the part of England, still the people of Turkey 
and the East would be gainers by the act. English civiliza- 
tion is the only civilization which has proved itself capable, 
in modern times, of rearing great and permanent free 
states. This civilization, with industry and commerce in 



HAWAII 179 

its train, would revive the finest portion of the earth, now 
almost a wilderness of ruin, and bring back those days of 
prosperity which the records of history tell of, but which, 
in contrast with present appearances, seem almost fabulous. 
If Constantinople were possessed by England, a new and 
large continental England would arise, surpassing the 
former in all the elements of greatness. 

The world is rapidly tending to the aggregation or con- 
solidation of nations into a few great Empire States. Eng- 
land and Russia already excel the Roman Empire. 

France is aiming at further accessions of territory. 

Germany will be, before many years, united in a con- 
federation. 

Asia, west of the British dominions, will fall into the 
hands of Russia or England. 

China and Japan will be Anglicized or Americanized. 

The United States will take in the whole continent of 
America. 

The Australian islands will become a federal republic. 

Africa will exhibit a line of French provinces in the north, 
a Liberian Republic in the west, an Egypto-British state in 
the north and east, and another republic in the south. 

That under this new arrangement and vast aggregation 
of powers, the battles of freedom will be fought over again, 
Russia marshalling the East against the West, we are not 
permitted to doubt. Nor is it less certain that our own 
republic, destined to become the greatest of all nations 
unless arrested by the suicidal dissolution of the Union, 
will give the casting vote, with a mailed hand, in favor of 
the freedom and progress of the race. 

The grand inference to be deduced, in every view of our 
position and duty, is, then, that Americans ought to improve 
and hold fast their own institutions, elevate their national 
character, render this the abode of the highest intelligence, 



i8o HAWAII 

and of a truly Christian civilization, as well as of the most 
successful industry; that thus our republic may be in readi- 
ness, when called upon in the future to decide the fate of 
nations, to hold up for their imitation the example of a 
state whose institutions are more conducive to the greatest 
freedom and welfare of mankind than all the world has ever 
seen.' 

These were surely remarkable words. If it were true 
a half-century ago that "the world is rapidly tending 
to the aggregation or consolidation of nations into a 
few great Empire States," how much greater the devel- 
opment in that direction to-day ! Nor is this tendency 
confined to governments; the same principle is ob- 
served everywhere in business. Indeed, is it not true 
that national governments to-day may be looked upon 
as, in a sense, great business corporations, designed to 
promote the prosperity of the whole people? 

Within the past few years, the growth of large busi- 
ness corporations has been singularly accelerated. 
The so-called "sugar trust" controls almost entirely 
the manufacture of that article of commerce. The 
"Standard Oil Company" controls the manufacture 
of kerosene oil, not only for use in this country, but 
largely for exportation; and while its own profits 
count far up into the millions, yet it has also bene- 
fited the world, without doubt, by giving us a purer 
article for lighting purposes, and at a lower price than 

' Thomas W. Dorr, in the Providence Herald, 1853. 



HAWAII i8i 

could have been the case if the industry had been 
carried on by many smaller companies. The great 
combinations in the iron and steel business, in the 
manufacture of cotton and woolen goods, in the de- 
velopment of departmental stores in the large cities, 
all show very clearly this modern tendency of consoli- 
dation. 

In the early history of our nation, we announced to 
the world what has since been known as the Monroe 
Doctrine. This was, in reality, a protest from Presi- 
dent Monroe against interference by European gov- 
ernments in American political affairs. Monroe's 
statement to Congress was that "the American conti- 
nents, by the free and independent condition which 
they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not 
to be considered as subjects for future colonization by 
any European powers." He said also, in relation to 
American affairs: "We could not view any' interposition 
by any European power in any other way than as a 
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the 
United States." Still further, he added that we 
"should consider any attempt on their part to extend 
their system to any portion of this hemisphere as 
dangerous to our peace and safety." 

It has apparently been assumed by some people re- 
cently that the Monroe Doctrine prevented our govern- 
ment from acquiring possessions beyond the shores of 
our own continent. Such, however, is not the case. 



i82 HAWAII 

The intent of the Monroe Doctrine was that the 
monarchical governments of Europe should not acquire 
for themselves new colonies on this continent. Surely, 
that did not imply that the United States was limited 
to this continent. 

It is necessary to a proper understanding of the 
Monroe Doctrine to inquire briefly concerning its 
origin. Soon after the overthrow of the first Napo- 
leon, the sovereigns of France, Prussia, Austria, and 
Russia formed what was called the " Holy Alliance," 
for mutual protection against revolutionary movements 
within their own states. The main purpose of the 
several parties to this alliance was to maintain their 
own dynasties. George Canning, the British Secretary 
of State, feared that this principle of intervention 
would be applied also to the reduction of the colonies 
of Spain in America, which for years previously had 
been disposed to revolt, and to establish their own 
independence. While these American peoples were 
colonies of Spain, their trade with the outside world 
was largely restricted ; but now England was profiting 
by their independence. It was clearly, therefore, for 
the interest of Great Britain that the Spanish colonies 
should remain independent, and not be resubjugated 
by Spain. 

This subject was discussed by Canning and Dr. 
Rush, the American minister in London. Dr. Rush 
brought the matter to the attention of the President 



HAWAII 183 

and his cabinet. John Quincy Adams was then Secre- 
tary of State. Speaking of the discussion in the Presi- 
dent's cabinet, Mr. Adams said: "The object of 
Canning appears to have been to obtain some public 
pledge from the United States, ostensibly against the 
forcible interference of the Holy Alliance between 
Spain and South America, but really, or especially, 
against the acquisition by the United States of any 
part of the Spanish possessions."' Mr. Calhoun at 
that time was "very much in fear that the Holy Alli- 
ance would restore all South America to Spain." 

The President's message, therefore, took up the 
subject and made the statements quoted above, and 
known as the Monroe Doctrine. He considered also 
the claim of Russia upon the Pacific coast as falling 
under the same rule. This message adds also: "With 
the existing colonies or dependencies of any European 
power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere." 
The message plainly asserts that "the American conti- 
nents should no longer be subjects for any new Euro- 
pean settlements." 

The plain meaning of these declarations was that, 
inasmuch as some of the colonies founded by Spain 
on this continent had declared themselves indepen- 
dent, and thus far had successfully maintained their 

' Memoirs of yohn Quincy Adams, vol. vi., p. 177, by Charles Francis 
Adams. For Mr. Rush's dispatches, see The Court of London, 1819- 
1825. 



i84 HAWAII 

independence, and their new governments had been 
recognized by the United States, our government gave 
notice to the European powers that they must not 
attempt to bring these countries back to their former 
allegiance to Spain. 

False constructions might easily be placed upon these 
announcements by the President. To do away with 
these false impressions, the House of Representatives 
in 1825 passed the following resolution: 

That the United States ought not to become a party with 
the Spanish American Republics, or either of them, to any 
joint declaration for the purpose of preventing interference 
by any of the European powers with their independence, or 
form of government, or to any compact for the purpose of 
preventing colonies upon the continents of America; but 
that the people of the United States should be left free to 
act in any crisis in such a manner as their feeling of friend- 
ship toward such republics, and as their own honor and 
policy may at the time dictate. 

In other words, the United States should not be 
fettered by any doctrine or form of program, but left 
free to act as occasion might require. From this it 
will readily be seen that the United States is in no 
way committed to a policy of political protection or 
guardianship of other American countries. Surely, 
from the above brief examination of the Monroe Doc- 
trine, it ought to be reasonably clear to every candid 
mind, on the one hand, that our government is not to 









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HAWAII 185 

be held responsible for the maintenance of other free 
governments on this continent, and, on the other hand, 
that this Monroe Doctrine in no way prevents us from 
acquiring sovereignty over territory elsewhere in the 
world. 

It is natural, however, when we come to the point 
of stepping off from the continent of North Amer- 
ica and undertaking to secure territory elsewhere, 
that such a proposition should lead to a careful ex- 
amination, with a view to determining whether ac- 
cessions of foreign territory would prove advantageous 
to this country. A very general discussion of these 
subjects has resulted from our recent accessions of 
island possessions. Since our war with Spain, circum- 
stances have brought fairly before the minds of our 
citizens the question of our proper place among the 
nations of the world. The rapid increase and improve- 
ment of the means of transportation and communica- 
tion between the different parts of the world, especially 
the tremendous growth of our own commerce, inevi- 
tably raise questions which never, heretofore, have 
affected our welfare. All parts of the world are much 
nearer together than they were fifty or even twenty- 
five years ago. The great forces of commerce are 
changing the world. These changes bring home to 
us the necessity of a wide-reaching and modern foreign 
policy. The game of upright diplomatists and enter- 
prising merchants is no longer to be played solely 



i86 HAWAII 

along the coast line of our own shores, but upon the 
map of the whole world. Formerly the Mediterranean 
Sea limited the enterprise of men and set bounds to 
their thoughts. In process of time, however, the 
Mediterranean broadened into the Atlantic. Our 
commerce, hitherto, has been largely limited to this 
one ocean. The growth of our domain upon the 
Pacific coast, together with the half-dozen railroad 
lines which connect that coast with the Atlantic, has 
made it absolutely certain that the future of this 
country depends, not only upon our Atlantic com- 
merce, either coastwise or with Europe, but largely 
upon our relations with the nations of the Orient, — 
China, Japan, India, Australia, and the thousand 
islands of the Pacific Ocean. 

Among these Pacific islands, the Hawaiian group 
occupies a prominent position. It lies wholly within 
the tropics. The islands are eight in number, and 
are of volcanic origin. The most southern and largest 
island is Hawaii, which extends just below latitude 
19° ; and the most northern island, Kauai, lies mostly 
north of latitude 22°. They cover nearly 7000 square 
miles of area, Hawaii occupying more than half of the 
whole surface. Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, has 
the only good harbor in all the islands. 

These islands were discovered by Captain Cook in 
1778. On his appearance with his two vessels, the 
natives considered him a god, and treated him and his 



HAWAII 187 

men with great kindness and boundless hospitality. 
Early in the following year Captain Cook returned to 
the islands, and found the natives kindly disposed, but 
inclined to be thievish. When they had stolen one of 
his boats, he determined to seize their king and hold 
him as hostage until the boat should be returned. In 
his attempts to capture the king the two parties came 
to blows and one of the chiefs was shot. Upon this 
the natives rushed forward, seized Cook and several 
of his men and killed them. Their flesh was eaten 
by the savages, who were cannibals. From that time 
forward, for nearly forty years, vessels from Europe 
and America frequently touched at these islands and 
the natives became more or less acquainted with the 
white race. 

Originally there were kings, or rulers, of the several 
islands, but after a time they all submitted to one 
king. About 1820 occurred one of the most remark- 
able events in history : it was nothing less than the 
entire overthrow of idolatry in the islands. Under 
the lead of the principal chiefs, all idols and temples 
for the idols were completely destroyed, and the nation 
was left without a religion. 

As early as 1809, two boys from these islands, named 
Opukahia (Obookiah) and Hopu, came to the United 
States in an American vessel. They were placed in a 
school at New Haven, and later, with some others who 
had arrived from the islands, were transferred to a 



1 88 HAWAII 

mission school in Cornwall, Connecticut. Through 
these young natives great interest in the Hawaiian 
Islands was awakened, and in October, 1819, a com- 
pany of missionaries sailed from Boston in the brig 
Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands, as they were then 
called. This company consisted of Rev. and Mrs. 
Hiram Bingham and Rev. and Mrs. Asa Thurs- 
ton, missionaries; Mr. Daniel Chamberlain, farmer; 
Thomas Holman, physician; Samuel Whitney, me- 
chanic and teacher; Mr. Samuel Ruggles, catechist; 
Mr. Elisha Loomis, printer and teacher; the wives of 
these men; and John Honoree, Thomas Hopu, and 
William Tennooe, natives of the islands, who had been 
educated at Cornwall, making seventeen persons in all. 
Before their arrival at the islands the whole system 
of idolatry had been swept away, and the natives were 
ready to give a cordial reception to the missionaries, 
and were inclined to accept heartily the new religion. 
Year after year great progress was made in uplifting 
the natives and in bringing about a considerable de- 
gree of civilization. In 1854, one of the missionaries 
wrote: "We are toiling up the hill and we may say 
with all our defects, and they are many, that no savage 
tribe ever went so fast and so far in thirty-five years as 
the Hawaiians. " This missionary further says: "We 
do not afifirm the perpetuity of the Hawaiian race. 
This may, and probably will, become extinct. The 
natives are few in number, and in physical, mental. 



HAWAII 189 

and moral power, feeble. . . . Foreigners are 
pouring in upon us from every point of the compass. 
Amalgamation is fast taking place. . . . The 
English language is being learned by many and 
coveted by most, and all things combined indicate the 
absorption or extinction of the Hawaiians as a distinct 
race, at no distant day ; let it be so. Still the islands 
will have a people, and God will have a church here." ' 

Year after year the number of American settlers in- 
creased until they finally felt obliged to assume practi- 
cal control of the islands. Up to 1840, the government 
was an absolute monarchy. In that year a constitu- 
tion was secured for the nation, and the prosperity of 
a civilized people began to mark the history of the 
islands. The last king, Kalakaua, died in San Fran- 
cisco, January 20, 1891, and nine days later Liliuoka- 
lani, sister of the late king, became queen. 

Liliuokalani was a woman of strong will, and firmly 
attached to the old idea of an absolute monarchy. 
Two years later, January, 1893, the queen signed two 
bills which had passed the corrupt legislature, the one 
legalizing a lottery scheme which had been driven from 
the United States, and the other licensing the opium 
trade. She also proposed to announce a new constitu- 
tion. Her cabinet refused to sign this constitution, 
which was to give despotic power to the queen. 

' Letter from Titus Coan, dated Hilo, Hawaii, April 17, 1854. See 
Newcomb's Cyclopedia of Missions, p. 667. 



ipo HAWAII 

The time for revolution had come. The revolution- 
ists called a mass meeting for Monday, January i6, 
1893, and a committee of safety was appointed. An- 
other meeting was held and speeches were made by 
the citizens. The great mass meeting indorsed the 
action of the revolutionists in appointing a "Com- 
mittee of Public Safety " and empowered the com- 
mittee to keep law and order, and to protect life, 
liberty, and property. Mr. Sanford B. Dole, a native 
of the islands, but of American parentage, accepted 
the presidency of the executive council of the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety. The revolution was now 
an accomplished fact. The queen was deposed, and 
everything remained quiet. This provisional govern- 
ment sent a commission to Washington, asking to be 
annexed to our country. A treaty of annexation was 
favorably reported to the Senate just before President 
Harrison went out of office, but President Cleveland, 
on his accession to office, withdrew the proposed 
treaty, and nothing further was done at that time. 

In 1894, the provisional government devised a plan 
for a convention to frame a constitution and establish 
a republic; and on the 4th of July, from the steps of 
lolani Palace, Mr. Dole proclaimed the Republic of 
Hawaii, and the constitution which had been adopted 
went into effect. Sanford B. Dole was elected presi- 
dent of the new republic, and efforts were soon re- 
newed to promote annexation to the United States. 



HAWAII 191 

When the Spanish-American war began, it was 
thought that the United States needed something 
more than a coaling station in the middle of the Pacific 
Ocean. If the Hawaiian Islands should come under 
the control of a European nation, the result might in 
the future be dangerous to us, especially in case of war. 
Our Congress for a long time considered the question 
of annexation. In April, 1898, war was declared with 
Spain, and on the ist of May our naval squadron in 
Chinese waters, under command of Commodore Dewey, 
captured and destroyed the entire Spanish fleet in the 
harbor of Manila. This condition of affairs hastened 
the action of Congress on the question of the annexa- 
tion of Hawaii. On the 15th of June the House 
passed a bill annexing the islands to the United States. 
The vote stood 209 to 91. This bill passed the Senate 
July 6th, by a vote of 42 to 21, and it was signed by 
President McKinley. The cruiser Philadelphia was 
then ordered to Honolulu to raise the American flag 
over the islands. 

"August 12, 1898, the very day on which the 
'protocol,' suspending hostilities between the United 
States and Spain, was signed at Washington, the 
ofificial transfer of Hawaiian sovereignty to the United 
States was made at Honolulu, with appropriate cere- 
monies. 

"Minister Sewall, in front of the executive building, 
where a large concourse of officials, distinguished 



192 HAWAII 

guests, and citizens were assembled, presented Presi- 
dent Dole a copy of the joint resolution of Congress, 
with an appropriate address. President Dole yielded 
up to the representative of the United States the 
sovereignty and public property of the Hawaiian 
Islands, *in the interest of the Hawaiian body politic, 
and with full confidence in the honor, justice, and 
friendship of the American people.' 

"Following these speeches, the guns gave a farewell 
salute to the Hawaiian flag, after which the Hawaiian 
band played the Hawaiian national hymn, 'Hawaii 
Ponoi.' The Hawaiian flag was slowly lowered, and 
just at the noon hour the American flag was hoisted 
in its place, and, as the band from the Philadelphia 
played the 'Star-Spangled Banner,' the identical flag 
which Commissioner Blount hauled down from the 
judiciary building in 1893, arose again in its place. 

"Minister Sewall then read a Proclamation to the 
Government and People of the Hawaiian Islands, con- 
tinuing the civil, judicial, and military power in the 
hands of the former officials of the Hawaiian Republic 
until Congress should otherwise provide. Other pro- 
visions were proclaimed, by which the government of 
the islands might proceed without interruption. The 
minister then addressed the assembly, beginning with 
the appropriate salutation: 'Fellow-countrymen,' and 
commending to them the new union, as conducive to 
'the burial of past prejudices, the obliteration of nar- 



HAWAII 193 

row divisions, and the ultimate political advancement 
of the humblest citizen, over whom this [new] flag 
shall float.' 

"The oath of allegiance to the United States was 
then administered by Chief Justice Judd to President 
Dole as 'President of the Hawaiian Republic, now a 
territory of the United States.' The oath was also 
administered to other officials, and the ceremonies of 
the day were over. 

" 'Not only did memories and sentiment,' writes 
one who was present, 'crowd all joyous thought from 
the mind as the Hawaiian flag was lowered, but they 
modified the volume of cheers that greeted "Old 
Glory" as it rose to its place. Many found them- 
selves subject to emotions that dimmed not a few eyes 
with tears. ... In the strictly official ceremonies 
no offense was given, nor could any be taken by op- 
posing Hawaiians. The reference to the "native sons 
of Hawaii " in the prayer, as also that of Minister 
Sewall to those "whose father-land this was" was 
kind, appropriate, and uplifting. The salutes of part- 
ing and of welcome were not the rejoicing over a van- 
ished race, but a welcoming into the larger fold and to 
the sisterhood of states.' 

"But the history of Hawaii as a nation was, never- 
theless, ended forever ; its annals for the future are to 
be blended with those of the great republic over the 

sea. Never again, except as an echo of the past, will 
13 



194 HAWAII 

be sung as the national hymn of Hawaii the inspiring 
song 

HAWAII PONOI 

"Hawaii ponoi, 
Isles of the Summer sea, 
Fanned by the trade winds free, 
Hawaii nei! 

"Grandly thine heights aspire, 
Wondrous thy heart of fire, 
Deep-toned the sounding lyre. 
Thy surf waves play. 

"Hawaii ponoi, 
God's blessing o'er thee be, 
God's love encircle thee 
Hawaii nei! 

"Be loyal hearts thy might. 
Freedom thy guiding light. 
Forever truth and right 
Bear glorious sway. 

"Hawaii ponoi, 
Love all my song shall be. 
Love evermore to thee 
Hawaii nei! 

"Aloha, land and sea, 
Aloha, brave and free, 
Aloha, my countrie. 
Aloha, o-e! " * 

* Hawaii and its People, by Alexander S. Twombly, Silver, Burdett 
and Company, New York, pp. 375-9. 



HAWAII 195 

President McKinley appointed five commissioners, 
giving them instructions to proceed to the territory 
and to prepare for recommendation to Congress such 
legislation for the Hawaiian Islands as they should 
deem proper. This commission consisted of Senator 
Cullom of Illinois and Senator Morgan of Alabama, 
Representative Hitt of Illinois, Ex-President Dole, 
and Justice Frear of Hawaii. On the 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1898, the President submitted to Congress the re- 
port of these commissioners, with the draft of a scheme 
of legislation for the government and administration 
of the Hawaiian Islands. The report was accompanied 
by a bill embodying the recommendations of the com- 
missioners for a general plan of government. 

This plan provided for the erection of the islands 
into a territory of the United States to be styled the 
Territory of Hawaii, with executive, legislative, and 
judicial officers. A governor, a secretary of the terri- 
tory, a United States district judge, a United States 
district attorney, and a United States marshal were 
to be appointed by the President; and an internal 
revenue district and a customs district were created. 
It abolished the offices of president, the ministers of 
foreign affairs, finance, and public instruction, auditor- 
general, surveyor-general, and marshal. The officers 
of the territory under the new regime were to be an 
attorney-general, with powers and duties similar to 
those previously possessed by the attorney-general of 



196 HAWAII 

the Republic of Hawaii, but with a few exceptions; a 
treasurer, with powers and duties similar to those of 
the former minister of finance, and such powers and 
duties regarding licenses, corporations, companies, 
partnerships, and registration of printed labels and 
trade-marks, as had been possessed by the minister of 
the interior, with certain changes; also a superin- 
tendent of public works; a superintendent of public 
instruction; an auditor; a deputy auditor; a surveyor, 
with the powers and duties of a surveyor-general ; and 
a chief sheriff, to succeed to the duties of the marshal 
of the republic. These were all to be appointed by 
the governor. 

Provision was made for a legislature to consist of 
two houses, a Senate of fifteen members, as under the 
Hawaiian Republic, and a House of Representatives of 
thirty members, doubling the membership of the old 
House. The members were to be chosen at a general 
election to be held on the Tuesday after the first Mon- 
day in November, 1899, and biennially thereafter. The 
sessions of the legislature were limited to sixty days, 
and each member was to have $400 salary and fifteen 
cents a mile for traveling expenses. A senator was 
required to be a male citizen of the United States, 
thirty years of age, to have lived in the territory three 
years, and to be the owner in his own right of $2000 
worth of property, or to have received $1000 income 
in the preceding year. Representatives must be 



HAWAII 197 

twenty-five years old, male citizens, must have lived 
three years in Hawaii, and must either own $500 
worth of property or have an income of $250 a year. 
This was the plan proposed, but the Senate committee 
struck out the express property qualifications and pro- 
vided, as the requirements of candidates, that they 
should be "qualified to vote " for senators and repre- 
sentatives respectively. 

The position that Hawaii should occupy in the 
Union was long discussed in Congress. The Senate 
had formulated one bill and the House another, both 
providing for a delegate to Congress from Hawaii. 
This proposition met with much opposition from both 
political parties, and a strong feeling was apparent 
that the bill should contain a declaration that "no- 
thing therein contained should be considered as im- 
plying the future admission of Hawaii as a state." 
Those who favored this declaration opposed the repre- 
sentation of Hawaii by a delegate in Congress, and 
when the 55th Congress expired on March 4, 1899, 
no legislation upon this matter had been carried 
through. 

Early in 1900, Congress passed a bill creating the 
Territory of Hawaii, which bill was signed by Presi- 
dent McKinley on the 30th of April. By this act 
Hawaii was given a territorial government like that of 
New Mexico and Arizona, with a governor appointed 
by the President and a delegate to Congress elected 



198 HAWAII 

by the people of the island. On the 4th of May the 
President nominated Sanford B. Dole to be governor 
of the territory, and the nomination was promptly 
confirmed by the Senate. Later Robert Wilcox, 
the candidate of the native voters, was elected as the 
first delegate from Hawaii to the national House of 
Representatives. 

Affairs in the islands are progressing fairly well, al- 
thoughj owing to the composite, heterogeneous popu- 
lation, great difficulties are experienced. According 
to the census taken in 1900, the entire population of 
the islands is something over 150,000. Of these about 
one third are of the native race; considerably more 
than one third are Japanese and Chinese; and the re- 
mainder is made up of Portuguese, Americans, a few 
English, and others. The largest city is Honolulu, 
with a population of about 40,000. 



CHAPTER X 

PORTO RICO 

PRESIDENT Mckinley, in his message to 
Congress December 6, 1897, reviewed the history 
of the relations between the United States and the 
Spanish government in Cuba for the last seventy or 
eighty years. He alluded to the war then in progress 
between Spain and Cuba, and asserted that both the 
Spaniards and the insurgents had paid no regard to the 
civilized code of war. General Weyler, in command 
of the Spanish army, had ordered non-combatants in 
the agricultural regions to leave their homes and their 
farms and concentrate in the cities under control of the 
Spanish forces. This concentration policy of General 
Weyler caused immense suffering and gave great dis- 
satisfaction. The result was that Weyler's resignation 
was demanded by the Spanish Premier, and General 
Blanco succeeded to the command in Cuba. This was 
in October, 1897. Blanco opposed concentration and 
allowed the reconcentrados to return from the cities 
and till the soil. The President in his message recom- 
mended "neutral intervention on behalf of a com- 
promise, or on humanitarian grounds." 

199 



200 PORTO RICO 

Soon after the message was sent to Congress, Sr. 
De Lome, the Spanish minister at Washington, wrote 
a letter containing deprecatory remarks upon Presi- 
dent McKinley. He characterized him as "weak and 
catering to the rabble," and as a "low politician." 
This letter came into the hands of the Cuban Junta. 
It was published and greatly inflamed the American 
mind against Spain. 

On January 24, 1898, the United States war ship 
Maine, Captain C. D. Sigsbee, was ordered to the 
harbor of Havana, "not," as was distinctly explained 
by Judge Day, the assistant Secretary of State, "as a 
menace to Spain, not even as a means of protecting 
the lives and property of Americans in Havana in the 
event of a popular tumult there, but simply as a token 
of the resumption of friendly naval relations with 
Spain." In acknowledgment of the friendly visit of 
the American battleship to Havana, the Spanish gov- 
ernment immediately ordered the battleship Vizcaya 
to visit the American ports. 

The Maine was destroyed by an explosion, about 
ten o'clock at night, February 15, 1898. The loss of 
life was fearful; it was a dark night and few of the 
crew escaped with their lives. The general belief of 
the citizens of our country was that the Spanish gov- 
ernment, or Spanish officers in Cuba, were responsible 
for the explosion. 

On April nth. President McKinley sent a message 



PORTO RICO 20I 

to Congress asking for authority to "intervene, for the 
purpose of stopping the war and securing the estab- 
lishment of a stable government in the island, by 
the use of the military and naval forces of the United 
States" On April 19th, Congress passed the follow- 
ing resolution : 

"Resolved, By the Senate and the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States of America, in Con- 
gress assembled : 

" I. — That the people of the island of Cuba are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent. 

"2, — That it is the duty of the United States to de- 
mand, and the government of the United States does 
hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once 
relinquish its authority and government in the island 
of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from 
Cuba and Cuban waters. 

"3. — That the President of the United States be, 
and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the 
entire land and naval forces of the United States, and 
to call into the actual service of the United States 
the militia of the several states, to such extent 
as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into 
effect. 

"4. — That the United States hereby disclaims any 
disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris- 
diction, or control over said island, except for the paci- 
fication thereof, and asserts its determination, when 



202 PORTO RICO 

that is accomplished, to leave the government and 
control of the island to its people." 

The Spanish minister at Washington immediately 
demanded his passports, and on April 2 1st the Spanish 
government practically declared war. The conflict was 
short, and resulted in a complete victory for the 
United States. The two Spanish fleets, one in the 
harbor of Manila and the other in the harbor of San- 
tiago, were destroyed. The fleet at Manila, consisting 
of ten or more vessels, was totally annihilated on the 
1st of May by our fleet under command of Commodore 
Dewey. Cervera's fleet also was destroyed near the 
coast of Cuba on Sunday, July 3d, by our North 
Atlantic squadron, under command of Rear-Admiral 
Sampson and Commodore Schley. The island of 
Guam, in the Pacific Ocean, was captured by Captain 
Glass, commanding the United States cruiser Charles- 
ton, on June 21st. 

A treaty of peace was concluded with Spain, De- 
cember 10, 1898, in accordance with which — 

1. "Spain relinquishes all claim to sovereignty over 
and title to Cuba. 

2. "Spain cedes to the United States the island of 
Porto Rico, and other islands now under Spanish sov- 
ereignty in the West Indies, and the island of Guam 
in the Marianas, or Ladrones. 

3. "Spain cedes to the United States the archipel- 
ago known as the Philippine Islands. The United 



PORTO RICO 203 

States will pay to Spain the sum of $20,000,000 within 
three months after the exchange of the ratifications of 
the present treaty." 

The points above enumerated are sufificient for our 
present purpose. The treaty was signed by the com- 
missioners, five from the United States and five from 
Spain. It was ratified by the Senate and signed by 
President McKinley, February 10, 1899, and by the 
Queen Regent of Spain, March 17th. Formal ratifica- 
tions were exchanged in Washington on the nth of 
April. The state of war began April 21, 1898, and 
the treaty of peace was ratified in less than a year 
from that time. 

In the summer of 1898, immediately after Santiago 
had surrendered, General Nelson A. Miles, in com- 
mand of the United States Army, sailed from Cuba 
with a sufificient force of regulars and volunteers to 
take possession of the island of Porto Rico. He 
landed at Ponce on the 28th of July. The people of 
the island received the Americans cordially, and a 
formal surrender was made to the general in command. 
The island had not been engaged with Cuba in the in- 
surrection against Spain, but the Spanish rule had been 
such as to cause a deep hatred of Spain in the minds 
of the people. General Miles issued a proclamation in 
which he said : 

"In the prosecution of the war against the kingdom 
of Spain by the people of the United States, for the 



(<^j^ 



204 PORTO RICO 

sake of liberty, justice, and humanity, its military 
forces have come to occupy the island of Porto Rico. 
They have come bearing the banners of freedom, in- 
spired by noble purposes, to seek the enemies of our 
government, and yours, and to destroy or capture all 
in armed resistance. 

"The chief object of the American military forces 
will be to overthrow the armed authority of Spain and 
give the people of your beautiful island the largest 
measure of liberty consistent with this military occu- 
pation. 

"They have not come to make war upon the people 
of the country, who for centuries have been oppressed, 
but, on the contrary, to bring protection to yourselves 
and your property, to promote your prosperity, and to 
bestow the immunities and blessings of our enlightened 
institutions and liberal government. This is not a war 
of devastation, but one to give all within the control 
of the military and naval forces of the United States 
the advantages and blessings of enlightened civiliza- 
tion." 

We have already seen that the sovereignty of this 
island was conveyed by Spain to the United States in 
the treaty of peace at the close of the war. With it 
were also conveyed "other islands now under Spanish 
sovereignty in the West Indies." 

Porto Rico is one of the West India islands, situated 
about seventy miles east of Hayti. Between these 



1^ 



PORTO RICO 205 

two islands lies the Mona Passage. The island is in 
form an irregular parallelogram, something over one 
hundred miles long and between thirty and forty 
miles broad. It contains about 3500 square miles, 
being somewhat smaller than Jamaica. It lies prin- 
cipally between 18° and 18° 30' north. A range of 
hills extends through nearly the whole length of the 
island from east to west, so that the streams, in gen- 
eral, flow northerly or southerly. The streams of the 
north are longer than the others. The highest peak 
of these mountains and the highest plateau are situ- 
ated toward the northeast corner of the island. These 
mountains are called the Sierra de Loquillo, and the 
highest point is 3600 feet above the level of the sea. 
It is one of the coolest and healthiest islands in the 
West Indies. 

The island is well watered. Hundreds of streams 
flow down from the mountains to the sea, and nearly 
fifty of them are of sufificient size to be termed rivers. 
The soil is exceptionally fertile. The principal pro- 
ductions are sugar, coffee, tobacco of the finest qual- 
ity, and cotton, remarkable for its long fibre, tenacity, 
and whiteness. Many cattle and sheep are raised, and 
they are of a better breed than is found elsewhere in 
the West Indies. The exports from the island are prin- 
cipally sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, molasses, cattle, 
and hides. The annual exports and imports are from 
ten to twelve million dollars a year each. A deep-sea 



2o6 PORTO RICO 

cable connects this island with Europe, America, and 
the large islands of the West India group. 

Porto Rico is one of the islands seen by Columbus 
in his second voyage in 1493. A Spanish town was 
founded here in 15 10, but was soon abandoned; the 
next year San Juan was settled with more success. 
The islanders in 1820 undertook to establish their in- 
dependence, but were not successful, and the Spanish 
supremacy was completely reestablished three years 
later. The capital town, San Juan, has about 30,000 
inhabitants, and is a place of considerable importance, 
with a good harbor. The population of the entire 
island is nearly 1,000,000, one third of whom are 
whites. Slavery existed there until 1873. 

The location of Porto Rico, its soil, climate, and 
healthfulness, combine to make it one of the most im- 
portant and valuable islands of the West India group. 
The present governor (1902), appointed by the Presi- 
dent, is Hon. William H. Hunt, of Montana, who was 
until recently judge of the Supreme Court of Montana. 
For a considerable period the United States govern- 
ment has been spending more than $100,000 a month 
in constructing roads in Porto Rico, and these public 
works give employment to from twelve thousand to 
fifteen thousand laborers. Public schools are rapidly 
being established by our national government and 
hundreds of teachers have gone there from the States. 
Dr. Martin G. Brumbaugh is commissioner of educa- 



PORTO RICO 207 

tion in the island. Scarcely one fifth of the people in 
Porto Rico can read. In 1898, before the Americans 
took possession of the island, there were something 
over 500 schools with nearly 20,000 children attending 
them. In 1900, the schools numbered over 800, with 
about 40,000 pupils; but there were nearly 300,000 
children of school age in the island. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

THE third article in our treaty with Spain reads as 
follows : 

"Article 3. — Spain cedes to the United States the 
archipelago known as the Philippine Islands and com- 
prehending the islands lying within the following lines : 

"A line running from west to east along or near 
the twentieth parallel of north latitude, and through 
the middle of the navigable channel of Bachti, from the 
II 8th to the 127th degree meridian of longitude east 
of Greenwich, thence along the 127th degree meridian 
of longitude east of Greenwich to the parallel 4° 45' 
north latitude, thence along parallel 4° 45' north lati- 
tude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude 
119° 35' east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian 
of longitude 119° 35' east of Greenwich to the parallel 
of latitude of 7° 40' north, thence along the parallel 7° 
40' north to its intersection with the ii6th degree 
meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a 
direct line to the intersection of the loth degree paral- 
lel of north latitude with the 11 8th degree meridian of 

208 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 209 

longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the 
1 1 8th degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich 
to the point of beginning. 

"The United States will pay to Spain the sum of 
$20,000,000 within three months after the exchange of 
the ratifications of the present treaty." 

It should be observed that in this treaty no mention 
is made of indemnity. We made no claim upon Spain 
along that line. We had captured and taken posses- 
sion of Porto Rico in the West Indies, the island of 
Guam in the Pacific Ocean, and the Philippine Islands 
in the east. These islands were ceded to us by Spain. 
Many people understand that the cession of the sov- 
ereignty in these islands to the United States was a 
practical necessity in the case. Under the circum- 
stances it would be inconsistent to allow them to re- 
main in the possession of Spain, and surely they could 
not properly be turned over to any other power. 

This same principle operated in regard to the Phil- 
ippine Islands; it was inevitable, under the circum- 
stances, that they should fall into our hands. We 
paid to Spain the sum of $20,000,000, but we did not 
specify in the treaty what that sum was for. The 
payment is stated within the third article, which ar- 
ticle cedes the Philippine Islands, but it does not say 
that this amount of money was paid as purchase 
money for the islands. 

In the treaty of 18 19, wherein the United States 



2IO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

relinquished to Spain her claim upon Texas, and Spain 
ceded Florida and quit-claimed to the United States 
her right and title to the Oregon territory, in the ninth 
article each party relinquished "all claims for damages 
or injuries which they themselves, as well as their 
respective citizens and subjects, may have suffered, 
until the time of signing this treaty." The article 
then goes on to mention five sets of claims against 
Spain which the United States relinquished ; and the 
king of Spain, on the other hand, relinquished to the 
United States five sets of claims which he had previ- 
ously insisted upon against the United States. Then 
the eleventh article says: "The United States . 
undertake to make satisfaction to their citizens [for the 
claims previously mentioned], to an amount not ex- 
ceeding $5,000,000." It was distinctly understood in 
this case that this $5,000,000 was to pay for the cession 
of Florida. 

In the treaty of peace between the United States 
and Mexico in 1848, at the close of the Mexican War, 
when Mexico ceded to us her provinces of New Mexico 
and California, the twelfth article has this agreement : 
"In consideration of the extension acquired by the 
boundaries of the United States as defined in the fifth 
article of the present treaty, the government of the 
United States engages to pay to that of the Mexican 
Republic the sum of $15,000,000." 

In our treaty with Russia in 1867, the first article 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 211 

reads: "His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias 
agrees to cede to the United States ... all the 
territory and dominion now possessed by his said Ma- 
jesty on the continent of America and in the adjacent 
islands"; and the sixth article says: "In considera- 
tion of the cession aforesaid, the United States agrees 
to pay . . . to . . . the Emperor of all the 
Russias . . . $7,200,000 in gold. . . , And 
the cession hereby made conveys all the franchises 
and privileges now belonging to Russia in the said 
territory, the dominion and appurtenances thereto." 

These quotations from treaties are made in order to 
show that when the United States has purchased terri- 
tory directly from other nations, the treaty has usually 
specified that the sums paid were in payment direct for 
the territory purchased. In this case the statement is 
not made in the treaty that the twenty millions of 
dollars was in payment for the Philippine Islands. It 
has generally been interpreted that this sum was in no 
sense a purchase price but was paid as a recompense 
to the Spanish government for public improvements 
in those islands. Spain had made large investments 
in the Philippines, and had incurred heavy obligations 
on behalf of the islands. It was deemed by many 
that it would not be equitable to leave her burdened 
with these and that the sum should be paid her in 
recognition of a general principle of fairness. Twenty 
millions of dollars certainly represents no fair valuation 



212 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

of the archipelago : indeed it would have been inade. 
quate to buy even the island of Luzon. 

The Philippine Islands constitute one of the largest 
archipelagoes in the world. They lie between the 
Pacific Ocean and the China Sea, northeast from Su- 
matra and Borneo. Lying between 5° and 20° north 
latitude, they are entirely in the torrid zone. They 
consist of a large number of islands, the principal of 
which are Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, Negros, Cebu, 
Leyte, Samar, Panay, and Mindoro, and very many 
smaller islands. There are about 1200 islands in all, 
including the Sulu Archipelago, which numbers about 
150. More than 400 of these are inhabited. The 
native inhabitants are chiefly of the Malay race. The 
principal ports are Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu. 

These islands were discovered by Magellan in 1521. 
Magellan, or, as his name really was, Fernando de 
Magalhaens, was a native of Oporto in Portugal, and a 
famous navigator. In 1 5 19, he was sent out by Charles 
V. of Spain in command of five ships, with 265 men, on 
a voyage of discovery, for the purpose of finding the 
East Indies by sailing west. The voyage took him 
across the Atlantic to the mouth of the La Plata River 
and along the shores of Patagonia. Then he discovered 
and sailed through the strait which has ever since 
borne his name, and entered the southern Pacific 
Ocean, to which he gave that name on account of the 
fine weather which he experienced there. In March, 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 213 

1521, he reached the Philippine Islands, touching first 
the island of Samar. The king of Cebu received him 
with great hospitality and promised allegiance to Spain. 
Afterwards Magellan as an ally of this king attacked the 
natives of the island of Mactan, was defeated, and, 
with eight of his men, was killed, April 2'j , 1521. 

It was a long time before the Strait of Magellan be- 
came a practical highway, but this expedition gave to 
the western world the first distinct knowledge of the 
Pacific, and the Spanish discovery of the Philippines 
led to their colonization soon after and the develop- 
ment of a rich commerce through Mexico with the 
Asiatic islands. 

After Magellan's death, Carabello was put in com- 
mand of the fleet, but he was soon deposed. Juan 
Sebastian del Cano succeeded Carabello in command 
of the fleet, and reached the Moluccas in safety. He 
now had only two vessels remaining, and with these, 
loaded with spices, he crossed the Indian Ocean. 
During that voyage he lost one of these vessels, but 
finally, with the Victoria, he doubled the Cape of 
Good Hope, and reached Spain, September 6, 1522. 
Cano was the first navigator, and the Victoria the first 
vessel, to circumnavigate the globe. The king of 
Spain rewarded him generously, and granted him a 
coat-of-arms on which was a globe with the inscrip- 
tion, "Primus circumdedisti me." 

The real Spanish possession of the Philippine Islands 



214 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

dates from the year 1565, when they received their 
name from Philip II., then king of Spain. The natives 
have frequently revolted against the Spanish govern- 
ment. The last revolt, previous to the American oc- 
cupation, was in 1896-1897. It was officially declared 
ended in December, 1897, when twenty-four of the in- 
surgent chiefs submitted to General Primo de Rivera. 
There were, however, some malcontents who refused 
to surrender, and, taking advantage of the critical re- 
lations existing between Spain and the United States, 
they induced a considerable following to resume hos- 
tilities. Before Manila surrendered to Dewey, these 
rebels had refused to pay taxes, had captured several 
important towns connected by rail with Manila, and 
had destroyed telegraph lines. 

When Dewey's squadron entered Manila harbor, the 
insurgents again took up arms. They continued fight- 
ing, directing their hostilities against the military 
forces of the United States, when we by treaty came 
into possession of the islands. The insurrection con- 
tinued for a long time, and we were obliged to send a 
large army to the islands. The contest was gradually 
reduced to a guerilla style of warfare ; General Agui- 
naldo, who was the leader of the insurgent forces, was 
captured, and finally all the bands of insurgents were 
captured or surrendered. 

A large army was for a long time needed in the 
Philippines to preserve the peace and to enforce the 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 215 

new order of things. Judge William H. Taft, of Cin- 
cinnati, was appointed civil governor of the islands, 
and in September, 1901, military rule was changed to 
a civil government. Civil officers have been ap- 
pointed and municipal and provincial governments by 
the people have been established. A school system 
has been put in operation and many hundred teachers 
have gone thither from the United States. The 
superintendent of public instruction is Mr. F. W. 
Atkinson, recently from Springfield, Massachusetts. 

The Philippine Islands are estimated to contain 
about 115,000 square miles, and the entire population 
is variously reported as numbering from 8,000,000 to 
10,000,000. The islands, to a large extent mountain- 
ous, are in the line of volcanic activities and the erup- 
tions have probably contributed to their origin and 
form. The coasts are deeply indented by the sea, 
and the larger islands are well watered by streams of 
considerable size. The high temperature and abun- 
dance of moisture produce a luxuriant vegetation. 

Horses which have been introduced from Spain and 
China are small and hardy, but the water-buffalo or 
" carabao " is used for all kinds of field work. Wild 
animals, such as the antelope, the fox, the wild cat, 
and the monkey, are found ; and among the birds are 
parrots, pheasants, pigeons, and water fowl. Fish 
are abundant. Various mineral products exist in 
considerable abundance. 



2i6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

The islands are capable of raising all kinds of tropi- 
cal productions. Rice, millet, maize, sugar, indigo, 
hemp, tobacco, coffee, and cotton are cultivated ; and 
sago, cocoanuts, bananas, numerous fine fruits, timber 
for shipbuilding, and dye-woods are among the pro- 
ducts. The natives weave cloth and make straw hats, 
cigar cases, and earthern ware ; but their chief manu- 
facture is cigars. 

The trade of the United States with these islands 
had greatly diminished during the ten or twelve years 
preceding their annexation. We had exported to the 
islands flour, petroleum, leather goods, and iron and 
steel products. We had received from there chiefly 
sugar and hemp. In 1888, our exports to the islands 
amounted to nearly $165,000; ten years later the total 
was less than $100,000. Our imports from the islands 
in 1888, 1889, ^"d iSgo were each year more than 
$10,000,000. From that time the sum diminished 
gradually until, in 1897, it was only about $4,000,000. 
The imports to these islands of late years have been 
principally from Spain, Great Britain, Germany, and 
France. The amount of these imports has been given 
as follows: 

Chemicals and drugs $ 800,000 

Cotton yarns 2,500,000 

Cotton piece goods 8,250,000 

Cotton knitted goods 1,100,000 

Silk goods , 500,000 

Carried forward $13,150,000 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 217 

Brought forward $13, 150,000 

Printing and writing paper 475,000 

Boots and shoes 100,000 

Spirits and liquors 340,000 

Preserved fruits and confectionery 600,000 

Umbrellas 310,000 

Hats 545,000 

Total $15,520,000 

It is readily seen that with the impetus which will 
inevitably be given to the productions from these 
islands, now that they are under the control of the 
United States, their commerce will prove, during the 
years to come, of no little importance to our country. 
A letter lately written by General Joseph Wheeler 
from the island of Luzon says: "I am pleased with 
this country. The prospects of its becoming a land of 
wealth and progress are great. It cannot be called an 
unhealthy country, and with proper sanitary precau- 
tions I think that its climate would be far better than 
the average." 

It will take considerable time for the average Ameri- 
can citizen to make himself familiar with the idea of 
the United States holding possessions on the eastern 
side of Asia. But it should not be forgotten that 
within easy reach of the Philippine Islands are found 
several hundred millions of the earth's population. 
Our republic surely needs, and perhaps one could say 
ought to have, a fair share of the commerce of China, 
Japan, the East India Islands, Australia, and India. 



2i8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

An intelligent Japanese, educated in this country, 
who does a large business importing goods from his 
native country to Boston and New York, was asked 
lately what he thought would result from our securing 
possession of the Philippine, Islands. He replied : 
"If you refer to commerce you will be great gainers. 
There are hundreds of millions of people living in 
the Orient, and they are largely within reach of the 
Philippine Islands." 

He was reminded thdt a large part of this trade now 
goes to Great Britain. "Yes, yes, I know," he re- 
plied. "But with the energy, enterprise, and inven- 
tive genius of the American people you ought to 
secure a large part of that trade." 

Then he was asked if he thought England could 
have obtained the trade which she has with those 
people without Hong Kong as her rallying point and 
trade center. "Oh, no," he replied, "Hong Kong is 
essential to England. That is the center of her trade. 
She can ship goods to all parts promptly from Hong 
Kong." 

When asked if we did not need "a Hong Kong," he 
did not quite understand that idiom, but thought it 
meant that we should endeavor to get Hong Kong. 
"Oh, no," he remarked, "you cannot get Hong 
Kong." 

The reply to this was: "I do not mean that we 
should try to take Hong Kong from the British, but 



INDEX 



Abemethy, George, governor Astor, John Jacob, develops 



of Oregon, i6i. 

Adams, John, appointed min- 
ister plenipotentiary, 14; 
distrusts Vergennes, 15; ap- 
pointed peace commissioner, 
16; work of, for the treaty, 
17; instructions to, 21 ; 
confers with Jay, 22. 

Adams, John Quincy, secre- 
tary of state, 132; and Mon- 
roe Doctrine, 183. 

Agriculture, in California, 105, 
106; in Alaska, 175; in 
Philippine Islands, 216. 

Aguinaldo, General, leads in- 
surgent forces, 214. 

Alaska, discovered by Bering, 
164; first settlement in, 165; 
ceded to the United States, 
166; reasons for purchase 
of, 167; value of, 168, 169; 
seal fisheries of, 170; gold 
discovered in , 171 ; boundary 
dispute, 172-175; produc- 
tions of, 176. 

Anderson, John J., cited, 66, 

157. 158- 
Aranda, Count de, proposes 
western boundary of United 
States, 19, 20, 28, 220. 



the fur trade, 117; forms 
Pacific Fur Company, 118; 
sends expedition to Oregon, 
119; mistakes of, 124, 125; 
estimates value of Astoria, 
126; advises government to 
reoccupy Astoria, 131. 

Astoria, settlement of, 122; 
William Hunt reaches, 123; 
sold to Northwest Company, 
126 ; restored to United 
States, 133-135. 

Atkinson, F. W., school super- 
intendent of Philippine Isl- 
ands, 215. 

Bering discovers Alaska, 164, 

165. 
Berthier, Alexander, French 

minister of war, 59, 60. 
Biddle, Captain J., dispatched 

to the Columbia, 131; takes 

possession of Oregon, 133. 
Bingham, Rev. Hiram, goes to 

Hawaii, 188. 
Black, Captain, at Astoria, 

127-130. 
Boundaries, western, defined 

by treaty of 1783, 19, 20, 26, 

27; southern, of original 



229 



23° 



INDEX 



Boundaries — Cont. 

United States, 43; Florida, 
76, 77, 79; Oregon, 91, 93, 
160; Alaska, 172-175. 

Brumbaugh, Martin G., com- 
missioner of education in 
Porto Rico, 206. 

Buchanan, James, negotiates 
treaty with Great Britain, 
149; position of, on Oregon 
question, 154. 

Calhoun, John C, reasons of, 
for annexation of Texas, 85. 

California, ceded to the United 
States, 96, 177; Captain 
Shelvocke in, 98, 99; gold 
discovered in, 100, 10 1; ad- 
mitted to the Union, 102; 
prohibits slavery, 103; value 
of, 104-108. 

Canada, ceded to Great Brit- 
ain, 12; to include North- 
west Territory, 20; claims 
of, to territory, 68; dis- 
pute with, over seal fisheries, 
171; dispute with, over 
Alaskan boundary, 172-175. 

Canning, George, and Monroe 
Doctrine, 182, 183. 

Cano, Sebastian del, succeeds 
Magalhaens, 213. 

Cervera, Admiral, defeated at 
Santiago, 202. 

Chamberlain, Daniel, goes to 
Hawaii, 188. 

Civil War, causes of the, 103. 

Clark, George Rogers, conquers 
Northwest Territory, 20. 

Clark, William, joins Captain 



Lewis, 115, 116; receives 
Oregon Indians, 161. 

Clay, Henry, nominated for 
President, 91. 

Cleveland, Grover, withdraws 
Hawaiian treaty, 190. 

Coahuila, claimed by Texas, 
94. 

Colonies, English, in middle of 
eighteenth century, 1 1 ; after 
1763, 12; extent of, 28. 

Columbia River discovered by 
Captain Gray, iii. 

Congress, appoints peace com- 
missioners, 14-16; instructs 
commissioners, 17,21; passes 
Ordinance of 1787, 36; or- 
ganizes ' ' Territory South 
of the Ohio," 37; ad- 
vises purchase of New Or- 
leans, 46; slavery question 
in, 89, 90; Texas question 
in, 91 ; passes Hawaiian bill, 
197; passes Cuban resolu- 
tions, 201. 

Connecticut, boundaries of, 
10; claims of, to North- 
west Territory, 33; cedes 
claims, 34. 

Cook, Captain James, discovers 
Sandwich Islands, 186, 187. 

Cox, John Ross, cited, 127. 

Crozat, Antoine, trade in 
Louisiana granted to, 151. 

Cuba, exchanged for Florida, 
74; Spanish rule in, 199- 
201; independence of, de- 
clared, 201. 

Cushing, Caleb, reports by, on 
claims to Oregon, 158-160. 



INDEX 



231 



Dewey, George, destroys Span- 
ish fleet, 191; at Manila, 202, 
214. 

Dole, Sanford B., president of 
Hawaii, 190; yields Hawai- 
ian sovereignty, 192; takes 
oath of allegiance, 193; 
governor of Hawaii, 198. 

Drake, Sir Francis, in Pacific 
Ocean, 109, no. 

Dunn, John, cited, 147. 

Ellicott, Andrew, appointed 
Florida boundary commis- 
sioner, 75; vexations of, 
76; difficulties of, 77, 78; 
finishes the survey, 79. 

Florida, settled by Spain, 11, 
73; exchanged for Cuba, 74; 
boundaries of, 75-77, 82; 
needed by United States, 
79; purchase of, 83, 84; 
treaty, 177. 

France, loses American pos- 
sessions, 12; selfish inter- 
vention of, 15; espouses 
cause of United States, 17; 
schemes of, with Spain, 21; 
regains Louisiana, 41; cedes 
Louisiana to United States, 
62; war with, 78; claims of, 
to Texas, 81. 

Franklin, Benjamin, work of, 
for independence, 12; plan 
of, for union, 14; reply of, to 
British commissioners, 20; 
confers with Jay, 22; letters 
of, to Vergennes, 23-26; op- 
poses slavery, 88; sagac- 
ity of, 220. 



Gadsden, James, negotiates 
Gadsden Purchase, 96. 

Gadsden Purchase, 96, 177. 

Gallatin, Albert, states claims 
of United States to Oregon, 
137. 138, 145. 146; report 
of, on claim to Oregon, 153. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, Charter 
granted to, 5-7. 

Gayoso, Governor, Spanish 
member of Florida com- 
mission, 76. 

Georgia, claims of, to western 
lands, 33 ; cedes claims, 

35- 

Gold, discovered in California, 
100; yearly production of, 
105; discovered in Alaska, 
171, 172; influence of dis- 
covery of, 221. 

Gray, Captain Robert, dis- 
covers the Columbia, in, 
145; meets Vancouver, 112; 
expedition of, 113-114. 

Great Britain, claims of, to 
Atlantic coast, 4-9; makes 
treaty of peace with United 
States, 23-27; area of , com- 
pared with United States, 
40; Florida ceded to, 74; 
claims of , to Oregon ,93,110- 
113; sends Raccoon to As- 
toria, 127; captures Astoria, 
128, 129; leaves boundary 
question unsettled, 131; sur- 
renders Astoria, 133, 134; 
disputes with, over Oregon 
boundary, 137-144, 147; 
makes Oregon treaty, 149; 
negotiates Oregon boundary 



232 



INDEX 



Great Britain — Cont. 

154-160; refuses to recog- 
nize Southern Confederacy, 
167 ; and Alaskan seals, 169, 
170; makes treaty with 
Russia, 172; and Alaskan 
boundary, 173, 174; interest 
of, in Monroe Doctrine, 182. 

Greenhow, Robert, cited, 68, 
113, 114, 139, 153. 

Guadaloupe Hidalgo, treaty 
of, 95, 96. 

Guam, becomes United States 
territory, 209. 

Hawaii, Captain Cook at, 186, 
187; native government of, 
189; revolution in, 190; an- 
nexation of, 191; govern- 
ment for, 195; becomes a 
territory, 197. 

Holland, claims of, in Am- 
erica, 9. 

Holman, Thomas, goes to 
Hawaii, 188. 

Honolulu, harbor of, 186; Am- 
erican flag raised at, 191; 
population of, 198. 

Hopu comes to the United 
States, 187, 188. 

Houston, General Sam, presi- 
dent of Texas, 85 ; work of, 
for Texan independence, 90. 

Hudson Bay Company, 117. 

Hunt, William H., governor of 
Porto Rico, 206. 

Hunt, Wilson Price, agent of 
Pacific Fur Company, 118; 
expedition of, to Oregon, 
123; leaves Astoria, 125. 



Jackson, Andrew, acknowl- 
edges Texan independence, 

86. 

James I. grants patents, 4. 

Jay, John, appointed peace 
commissioner, 16; recog- 
nizes value of Northwest 
Territory, 20; distrusts 
France, 21, 22; sagacity of, 
220. 

Jefferson, Thomas, appointed 
peace commissioner, 16; de- 
sires control of Mississippi, 
43; suggests purchase of 
New Orleans, 45; letter of, 
to Livingston, 46; letters of, 
47, 152; a strict construc- 
tionist, 65; consents to 
treaty with France, 66; op- 
posed to slavery, 88; sends 
outLewisandClark,ii5, 116. 

Kalakaua, death of, 189. 
Klondike, gold discovered 
in the, 171, 172. 

Lane, General Joseph, gover- 
nor of Oregon, 162. 

La Salle, discoveries of, 81. 

Laudonniere, starts colony in 
Florida, 73; escapes to 
France, 74. 

Laurens, Henry, appointed 
peace commissioner, 16. 

Lewis, Meriwether, expedition 
of, to Oregon, 115, 116. 

Liliuokalani, reign of, 189; de- 
posed, 190. 

Lincoln abolishes slavery, 103, 
104. 



INDEX 



233 



Livingston, Robert, instructed 
to purchase New Orleans, 
46; fruitless efforts of, 48; 
instructions to, 49; remark 
of, after signing the treaty, 
65; sagacity of, 221. 

London Company, first settle- 
ment of, 4; first charter of, 
5-7; second charter of, 7, 8, 
II. 

Loomis, Elisha, goes to Ha- 
waii, 188. 

Los Angeles, rapid growth of, 
106. 

Louisiana, transferred to Spain , 
II, 12, 40; ceded to France, 
41; purchase of, 52-66, 
107, 177 ; sale of, negotiat- 
ed, 62, 64 ; boundaries of, 
67-69, 151-154; extent of, 
70; population of, 71; value 
of, 72 ; origin of name, 
81; slavery prohibited in, 
89; results of purchase of. 



McDougal, Duncan, partner 
in Pacific Fur Company, 
118; selects site for Astoria, 
121, 122; left in charge of 
Astoria, 125; sells Astoria, 
126; conference of, with In- 
dians, 129, 130. 

McKay, Alexander, partner in 
Pacific Fur Company, 118. 

McKenzie, Donald, partner in 
Pacific Fur Company, 118. 

McKinley, William, signs Ha- 
waiian annexation bill, 191; 
appoints Hawaiian commis- 



sion, 195; signs Hawaiian 
territorial bill, 197; Cuban 
message of, 199; asks for 
Cuban intervention, 201; 
signs Spanish peace treaty, 
203. 

Magalhaens, Fernando de, voy- 
age of, 212; in Philippine 
Islands, 213. 

Maine, The, destroyed, 200. 

Manila, Spanish fleet destroyed 
at, 191; port of, 212; Dewey 
at, 214 ; importance of, 
219. 

Marbois, Marquis de, life of, 
50-52; negotiates sale of 
Louisiana, 50; account of 
Louisiana cession, 53-59; 
defines western boundary 
of Louisiana, 68, 69, 153. 

Marshall, James, discovers gold 
in California, 100, loi. 

Masilla Valley bought by 
United States, 96. 

Massachusetts, boundaries of, 
10; claims Northwest Terri- 
tory, 33 ; cedes claims to 
Congress, 34. 

Meares, Lieutenant John, voy- 
age of, to Oregon, no, in. 

Menendez founds St. Augus- 
tine, 73, 74. 

Mexico, settled by Spain, 11; 
treaty of, 84 ; abolishes slav- 
ery, 91; war with, 94, 95. 

Miles, Nelson A., captures 
Porto Rico, 203. 

Missions, in Oregon, 160, 161; 
in Alaska, 165; in Hawaii, 



234 



INDEX 



Mississippi River, basin of, 
settled by France, 1 1 ; the 
western boundary of United 
States, 26,40; United States 
secures control of, 43, 44. 

"Mississippi Territory," 37. 

Missouri Compromise, 89. 

Monroe, James, appointed 
minister to France, 48; ar- 
rives in Paris, 61; an- 
nounces intention of United 
States, 131; protests against 
European interference, 181; 
message of, 183; sagacity 
of, 221. 

Monroe Doctrine, 181-185. 

Napoleon, significant prophecy 
of, 3 ; negotiates treaty with 
Spain, 41; offers to sell 
part of Louisiana, 44; ac- 
cepts advice of Marbois, 50; 
change of views of, 53-59; 
signs treaty, 65; remark of, 
on Louisiana boundary, 68; 
plans of, for western em- 
pire, 221. 

New Amsterdam, British flag 
raised at, 9. 

Newfoundland fisheries se- 
cured by treaty of 1783, 

17- 
New Hampshire, boundaries 

of, 10. 
New Mexico ceded to United 

States, 96, 177. 
New Orleans, importance of, 

43; plans to capture, 44; 

EUicott at, 76. 
New York, boundaries of, 10: 



claims of, to Northwest Ter- 
ritory, S3- 
North Carolina, claims western 
lands, 33; cedes claims, 34, 

35- 

Northwest Company, declines 
Astor's proposal, 118; at As- 
toria, 125; buys Astoria, 
126. 

Northwest Territory, con- 
quered by George Rogers 
Clark, 20; extent of, 28; 
value of, 29-32; claims of 
individual states to, 33. 

Onis, Chevalier de, negotiates 
Florida treaty, 82. 

Opukahia comes to the United 
States, 187, 188. 

Ordinance of 1787, 36, 37; pro- 
vision of, for new states, 92. 

Oregon, our claims to, 67, 137- 
142, 145-16 1 ; Spain relin- 
quishes rights to, 83 ; our title 
clear to, 93 ; explorations in, 
109-111; British claims to, 
110-113; not a part of 
Louisiana, 150; missions in, 
161; commercial import- 
ance of, 162, 163; supposed 
uselessness of, 221, 222. 

Oswald, Richard, negotiates 
treaty of peace, 20, 22, 23. 

Pacific Fur Company, for- 
mation of, 118, 146. 

Pakenham, Richard, minister 
at Washington, 142; nego- 
tiates treaty, 143. 

Pakenham treaty, 143, 144. 



INDEX 



235 



Philippine Islands, ceded to 
United States, 208, 209; 
price paid for, 211; position 
and number of, 212; revolt 
in, 214; civil government in, 
215; exports and imports, 
216, 217. 

Polk, James K., nominated for 
President, 91; and Oregon 
question, 93; proclaims 
treaty with Mexico, 96; 
submits Pakenham treaty, 
143; appoints governor of 
Oregon, 162. 

Population of United States, 
in 1790, 3; in 1900, 4; of 
Northwest Territory, 29, 30; 
of original territory, 38; west 
of Alleghany Mountains, 
71; of California, 104; of 
Alaska, 176; of Hawaii, 198; 
of Philippine Islands, 215. 

Porto Rico, captured by Gen- 
eral Miles, 203, 209; value 
of, 205; population of, 206; 
illiteracy in, 207. 

Provost, J. B., dispatched to 
the Columbia, 131; arrives 
in Oregon, 134; raises Amer- 
ican flag at Astoria, 135. 

Ribault attempts settlement 

at Port Royal, 73. 
Riley, General Bennett, calls 

convention, 102. 
Robertson, James, 21. 
Rush, Richard, minister at 

London, 132; account of, 

of restoration of Astoria, 1 3 5 ; 

claims of, 145, 146; report 



of, 153; commences nego- 
tiations, 154; presents claims 
to Oregon, 155; and Monroe 
Doctrine, 182. 
Russia, cedes Alaska to United 
States, 166; and the Civil 
War, 167; makes treaty with 
Great Britain, 172. 



St. Augustine, settlement of, 

73> 74- 

Sampson, William T., destroys 
Spanish fleet, 202. 

Schley, Winfield S., destroys 
Spanish fleet, 202. 

Scott, Winfield, in Mexico, 95. 

Seal fisheries, 170, 171. 

Seven Years' War, terms of 
peace after, 2; importance 
of, 13, 14. 

Sevier, John, 21. 

Seward, William H., negotiates 
treaty with Russia, 167, 168. 

Shelby, Isaac, 21. 

Shelvocke, Captain George, 
account of, of California, 
98, 99. 

Sitka, a trading post, 165; 
climate of, 175. 

Slavery, in Louisiana, 55; in 
Texas, 85, 86; foremost topic 
in politics, 86; a vexatious 
problem, 87; discussed in 
Constitutional Convention, 
88 ; affected admission of 
states, 89, 90 ; abolished in 
Mexico, 91 ; prohibited in 
California, 103; abolished in 
United States, 104. 



236 



INDEX 



South Carolina, claims western 
lands, S3', cedes claims, 34. 

Spain, early discoveries, 4; 
territory in America after 
treaty of 1763, 12; cedes 
Louisiana to France, 41; 
withdraws right of deposit, 
43, 44; protests against 
transfer of Louisiana, 69; 
negotiations with, 79; sells 
Florida, 80; gives up rights 
to Oregon, 83, 145, 146, 154; 
rule of, in Cuba, 199-201; 
war with, 202; treaty of 
peace with, 202, 203, 209; 
and Philippine insurgents, 
214. 

Sutter, Captain John, and the 
discovery of gold, 100, loi. 

Taft, William H., civil gover- 
nor of Philippine Islands, 
215. 

Talleyrand, French minister of 
foreign affairs, 49; suggests 
purchase of Louisiana, 50; 
letter of, to Gavine, 153. 

Taylor, Zachary, in Mexico, 95. 

Texas, our claim to, 67, 81, 82; 
ceded to Spain, 83; annexa- 
tion of , 84, 107, 177; revolu- 
tion in, encouraged by South, 
85; annexation of, dis- 
cussed, 86, 91; asks for ad- 
mission to Union, 90; ad- 
mitted to Union, 92; war 
follows annexation, 93, 94; 
claims of, to Coahuila, 94; 
objections of, to annexation. 



Thorn, Captain Jonathan, and 
the Tonquin, 1 19-122. 

Thurston, Rev. Asa, goes to 
Hawaii, 188. 

Treaty, of 1763, 12; of 1783, 
II, 17-27; with France, 3, 
63-66; of Ghent, 130, 131; 
Florida, 3, 69, 80, 81, 139, 
140, 141, 209; of 1825, be- 
tween Great Britain and 
Russia, 172; Oregon, 93, 143, 
160; of Guadaloupe Hidal- 
go, 84, 95, 96, 210; Gads- 
den, 96; with Russia, 166, 
210, 211; of 1896, 170, 171; 
Hawaiian, 190; with Spain, 
202, 203. 

Twiss, Travers, cited, 147. 

Tyler, John, approves Texan 
annexation, 91. 

United States, extent of orig- 
inal territory of, 28, 39, 40; 
acquires Florida, 80; claims 
of, to Texas, 82; Texas 
added to, 92 ; after treaty of 
Guadaloupe Hidalgo, 95, 96; 
claims of, to Oregon, 114, 
117; after Alaskan pur- 
chase, 176; accessions of 
territory, 177; expansion of, 
criticised, 220-224. 

Vancouver, George, voyages 
of. III— 113. 

Vergennes, Count de, designs 
of, 15; and peace commis- 
sioners, 17; letter of, to 
Franklin, 23, 24. 



RD- 5 



INDEX 



237 



Virginia claims Northwest Ter- 
ritory, 33. 

Washington, George, appoints 
Florida boundary commis- 
sion, 75; opposes slavery, 88. 



Whitman, Marcus, work of, for 

Oregon, 161. 
Whitney, Samuel, goes to 

Hawaii, 188. 
Wilcox, Robert, elected United 

States representative, 198. 



Alin 9 Q Tnnn 



AUG 2 9 1902 

1 copy DLL, TOCAI.OIV. 
^=''-, 29 1902 



Hi 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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